Versa
by DeathByQT
Summary: What would happen if Yami were the one to solve the puzzle and set Yuugi free?
1. Chapter 1

_In Ancient Times, Games Were Used To Predict The Futures of Men and Kings._

 _These Games Can Be Traced Back As Far As Ancient Egypt._

 _But The Magic Ceremonies Where Destinies Themselves Were Decided Were Known As "Shadow Games"_

 _From These Games Erupted A War That Threatened To Destroy The World Until The Magic Was Locked Away For All Eternity…_

 _Until Now._

"Yami! Hey Yami!"

Yami looked up from organizing his Duel Monsters deck. Class had just let out and nearly all the students had left the room. Strange, Yami had thought they would have all gone the second the bell rang.

"Wanna join us for basketball?" the other student grinned with an eyebrow raise. "All the girls are playing."

"No thanks," Yami shook his head. "Sports aren't my thing."

The other student had already started leaving the moment Yami had started speaking. Well, that was fine. It's not like he was really expecting anything from the guy anyway. He didn't even know that kid's name.

 _Still,_ Yami thought as he gave up on organizing and shoved the deck back into its protective holster, _it would have been nice to have at least tried._ He could hear the laughter and cheers of his classmates from outside, the muted sound somehow making him all the more isolated.

Maybe he should have said yes to basketball. Sports might not be his thing, but at least he would have looked like he fit in rather than sitting there alone and disconnected from the rest of them. Never seeming to fit in with the picture that they all easily formed together. Just a piece from a different puzzle.

 _Wait!_ He could do that instead.

He reached down and opened his schoolbag, trading his plastic-holstered deck for a golden box inscribed with writings from another world. With a _clack_ he placed the box on his desk. As he traced over the hieroglyphics etched into its pristine side, he recalled what his grandfather told him when they had been clearing out some old junk and Yami found the box hidden under a layer of dust.

 _Something you can see, but you've never seen it before._

The hand that swiped the box away was so sudden Yami couldn't react until Honda was already showing it off to Jounouchi. When Yami caught up with what had happened, he was seething. How dare they take something so special to him?

"Oh, Yami, so dark and gloomy," Honda teased, "Your parents really picked the a good name for you, didn't they?"

"Give it back," Yami glared.

Honda grinned, and Yami's heart nearly stopped when he tossed the box to Jounouchi. Yami lunged forward but his tormentors, having the advantage in a larger arm span, easily threw the box between the two of them. Mercifully, Jounouchi caught the box a final time and held it up high with one hand. There was something vaguely Shakespearean about it.

"A golden treasure," Jounouchi mocked as he examined the box. "What, no diamonds? No ode to your royal majesty?"

Yami's hand curled into a fist at his side. He would not let this get the best of him. He just would not.

"That would be the other gold box," he deadpanned, holding his other hand out to Jounouchi. "Stop fooling around and hand that over. It's not yours to toy with."

"Relax," Jounouchi said as he tossed the box from one hand to the other. "I'll give it back. I just want to see what all the fuss is about. Or you could always get off your high horse and just take it back from me by force."

Yami scoffed, "I'm not going to attack you on school property just because you told me to. I'm not an idiot." After a beat, Yami sighed and let his arm fall to his side. "Fine. You can look but don't lose it."

Jounouchi grinned and lifted the lid to peek inside. The grin vanished when Yami sucker-punched him in the gut and caught the puzzle box when Jounouchi dropped it.

Honda shouted at Yami as Jounouchi doubled over, supporting himself on one of the desks, but Yami didn't stick around to watch the chaos unfold. Cradling his box on his chest, he ducked under Honda's outstretched arms and sprinted from the room as fast as his legs could carry him.

He flew past Anzu as he rounded the corner, barely catching her surprised gasp. He thought he saw her hand reach out, but by the time he thought to look back he was already down the hall.

-Line-

"Yami…" Anzu stopped at the door and watched him disappear around the corner. She didn't get a good look at his face, but she could tell that he wasn't running forward as much as running away. Sure enough, Honda burst from the room Yami had just vacated, followed closely by Jounouchi who grabbed Honda by the shoulder.

"Come back here you little coward!" Honda shouted in the general direction Yami had run.

"It's fine Honda," Jounouchi said. "Let him go."

"After what he did? Are you insane?"

"Whatever it was," Anzu said, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall, "Jounouchi was probably asking for it,"

"Butt out," Honda waved her off dismissively. "It's none of your business."

Anzu raised her brows in judgment. "And I'm sure you're the experts in staying out of other people's business."

"Shut up," Jounouchi glared. "Just because you have a thing for the guy—"

"I do not have a thing for the guy," Anzu blushed. "What I have is the knowledge that you two together mean trouble. Why can't you just leave him alone?"

"He seems to be doing a pretty good job with the 'alone' part himself," Jounouchi said. "I get that you're distracted by whatever it is he does for you, but that doesn't make him less of a prick. You can't blame me for trying to take the guy down a peg and bring him into the real world."

"If bringing into the 'real world' means bullying him every chance you get—"

"Who's bullying who?"

All three looked up to see a huge wall of a boy, though maybe man was a better word. He wore a school uniform like they did, but the sheer presence he had would have intimidated most. Jounouchi however, wasn't most.

"What's it to you?" he stepped up to the guy only to have Honda clap a hand over his mouth.

"No one! No one's bullying anyone!"

Anzu rolled her eyes but said nothing. There was something about this upper classman that set off alarms, though he hadn't actually done anything she hadn't done already. Call it instinct or women's intuition, she could tell there was something fundamentally untrustworthy and possibly dangerous about this person. As if her could sense her thoughts, the stranger caught her eye, almost challenging her to counter Honda's claim. Instead, she glanced away.

After a moment, the man nodded and turned his gaze back to the boys.

"Good," he said. "Bullying is wrong."

"True! Very true!" Honda agreed a little too adamantly as the man turned away and walked down the hall. Once he was out of earshot, Honda finally let go of a struggling Jounouchi.

"You moron! I couldn't breathe!"

"Don't you know who you were talking to?" Honda exclaimed. "That was Tetsu Ushio!"

"Ushio?" Anzu said incredulously. "From the Morals Committee?"

"Yea," Honda said, warily eyeing the direction Ushio had gone. "He's developed a rough reputation after he becoming the Student Head Enforcer. Even some of the teachers have started to feel nervous around him." He turned Anzu. "Don't get any ideas."

Anzu scoffed. "Are you serious? I had the chance to tell him, but I didn't."

"That doesn't mean you won't change your mind later."

"I won't have to tell him if you keep behaving like idiots," Anzu sneered and pushed herself off the wall. "Actions speak louder than words and boy, are you two loud." She turned on her heel and stalked off, frustration coming off her in waves.

 _Boys._

-Line-

"What a bitch," Jounouchi said as he and Honda started walking. "So high and mighty, just like that Yami guy."

"I still can't believe you stopped me from chasing him," Honda shook his head. "There's no honour in sucker-punching. If he was a real man, he'd make it a fair fight."

"I did ask for it, Honda," Jounouchi pointed out. "I can't fault the guy for doing what I told him to do. Even if he did it deceitfully. Besides, I've already got my revenge." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the metal piece he took from Yami's box.

"What is that?" Honda asked, taking it and holding it up between his thumb and forefinger, the engraved eye staring at them unblinking. "Creepy."

"From what I could tell, that stupid box of his contained some kind of puzzle. Given how girlish he was acting about it, he must be really eager to solve it." Jounouchi took the piece back from Honda, tossed it up once and caught it in a fist. "Pity he won't be able to."

Honda laughed. "Pretty slick, man."

"What can I say, I'm not just a pretty face."

"Ignoring that last comment, what should we do with it? Maybe we can hock it for cash or something. Don't people go crazy over gold?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "Nah, it's too hard to be gold. Look here. It was in a box with a bunch of other stuff all day in a schoolbag, but there's no scratches or anything. Perfectly smooth."

"Crap," Honda shook his head. "We could have gotten some cool stuff if it was real."

"Yea," Jounouchi commiserated. "Too bad." An idea came to him when they passed an open window overlooking the swimming pool. "Bet it would make a satisfying splash, though."

Jounouchi threw the puzzle piece out the window. A few breaths later and there was a splash most satisfying. Honda howled with laughter while Jounouchi watched the little glimmering piece sink to the bottom. _Treasure… more like rotten jerk._

He shook himself from his thoughts and grinned at Honda.

"Let's go."

-Line-

Yami crossed the schoolyard, relieved. No one had come after him, so he was confident that whatever the repercussions were for punching Jounouchi, he wouldn't be dealing with them today. At least he would be able to focus on the puzzle for the time being.

"Yami?"

He turned around to see a large upperclassman following him. Yami stopped and waited for the large student to catch up. The student nodded his thanks and began to introduce himself.

"My name is Ushio, Head of the Morals Committee. I'd like to ask you some questions."

"…Okay."

"Have you been picked on by anyone in your class?"

Yami started at the candor with which Ushio spoke. He was definitely one of those 'straight to the point' type of guys. Still, why was he asking him that? For that matter, why was Ushio interested?

"…No?" Yami answered carefully.

"Hold on," Ushio said as Yami was about to leave. "For the good of the school, answer me." Yami was too unnerved to respond, and made even more so when Ushio grabbed him by the shoulders with an intensity that almost crushing.

"Don't worry Yami," Ushio urged. "From now on, consider me your bodyguard. No one else will bother you with me around."

Yami shook off Ushio's grip and backed away. "No thanks."

He turned around and made his escape, perhaps a little faster than what could be considered a normal walking speed. He was suddenly more than eager to get home.

Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful, if not a little crowded on the bus. It wasn't until he was through the front door of his grandpa's game shop that anyone even acknowledged him.

"Yami!"

He looked up to see his grandfather, Sugoroku, sweeping the floor. Yami smiled and closed the door behind him.

"Hey gramps," he walked over to the counter and set his schoolbag down on the counter. "We get many customers today?"

"About the same as always," Sugoroku chuckled. "Just getting ready for the rush. How was school?"

"About the same as always," Yami shrugged.

"Same as always?" Sugoroku asked knowingly. "I take it that means you were about as social as you usually are with kids your age?"

Yami smirked. "Did you want me to finish that up for you?"

Sugoroku scoffed, but allowed the change of subject, "I'm not so old that I can't use a dustpan." He bent down to sweep the dust and dirt into the little red bin, only to grab his back a moment later with a grunt of pain. Yami was by his side in an instant.

"Here, let me."

"Thank you," Sugoroku said as he leaned up against the counter and let Yami sweep up the mess. There was a clatter as he knocked over Yami's schoolbag and the lid of the puzzle box opened the bag's flap. Sugoroku and Yami both eyed the gold peeking out from inside the bag.

"So," Sugoroku said with a significant smile and Yami let his eyes fall back to his task. "You haven't given up on the puzzle."

"Who said anything about giving up?" Yami stood and emptied the dustpan into the trashcan behind the counter.

"The most intelligent minds of this age couldn't solve that puzzle. It's impossible for you."

"Gee, thanks for the support," Yami deadpanned over his shoulder as he put the broom and dustpan in the supply cupboard.

"It's just that with that puzzle's history-"

"Oh the history," Yami rolled his eyes.

Sugoroku's voice slipped into a well-practiced cadence of an avid storyteller. "Everyone involved in the excavation of the pharaoh's tomb from whence that puzzle came the died mysteriously. They say the last one—"

"The last one died screaming about a Shadow Game," Yami finished in a passing imitation of his grandfather's voice. "'And 'To the one who controls me, I will give dark wisdom and strength.' You've only told me this story about a thousand times."

"Oh, that's an exaggeration," Sugoroku waved off Yami's complaint.

"Not really. Besides, what does any of this have to do with me finishing the puzzle?"

"It means that eight years is long enough! It'll sell for a lot!"

"I'm not selling it," Yami grabbed his bag and held it close to his chest. "It'll make a great keepsake of you."

"Not any time soon, I hope," Sugoroku crossed his arms.

Yami smirked, "Depends on how many times you try to get me to sell it."

"Is that any way to talk to such an old man?" Sugoroku laughed and clapped Yami on the back. Yami smirked and brought his bag down to his side.

"Sorry," he started walking toward the stairs. "I'm just going to get started on my homework."

"Good boy," Sugoroku nodded. "Take the puzzle up to your room. I'll go make tea."

-Line-

 _Click._

 _Click._

 _Click._

"Maybe here?"

 _Click._

"Damn!"

Sugoroku smiled outside his grandson's door, slowly shaking his head. The kid should have gone to bed hours ago, but Sugoroku couldn't bring himself to reprimand him. Yami was at his happiest when he was involved in his games, and he had so few happy moments as it was.

 _Click._

 _Click._

 _Clack!_

"Yes!"

Sugoroku chuckled softly and continued his trek from the bathroom back to his own room. Yami really was his grandson.

-Line-

"Hey."

Yami jerked up at his school desk, fighting his way back from the edge of sleep to find Anzu standing beside him. She started at his sudden movement.

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly. "I didn't mean to sneak up on you like that."

"It's fine," Yami said, rubbing his hand over his face. "I should be the one apologizing to you."

"Hmm? What for?"

"For running past you like I did yesterday. It wasn't anything personal."

"No, it's fine!" Anzu assured. "I understand. Those guys are such jerks."

Yami shrugged, "Don't worry about it."

"I can't _not_ worry about it," Anzu scoffed. "I mean, how can I abide people being so—"

"Hey, Yami."

The pair looked up to see Ushio standing in the doorway. Anzu's eyes darted between the two while Yami internally groaned. He so did _not_ want to deal with whatever it was that was happening. Ushio nodded down the hall.

"Would you come with me for a moment?"

Yami considered for a moment. What did Ushio want with him? Did it have something to do with the weird conversation from the day before? He glanced at Anzu, who urged in a quiet voice, "You don't have to go with him."

"Don't worry," Yami assured as he stood up. "I'm sure it won't take long."

Anzu still seemed worried as Yami followed Ushio out of the room. They were silent as he led Yami down the halls. It wasn't until they were outside that Yami gave up on waiting for an explanation and just asked where Ushio was taking him.

"Just follow me," Ushio said, the cadence of his voice so low as to sound menacing. "I'm sure you'll like this."

Yami briefly entertained the notion of just turning around and walking away, but he came this far. It wasn't until they had rounded the corner that he almost wished he hadn't. There, much to Yami's horror, lay Jounouchi and Honda. Their faces were marred with already dark bruises and broken skin.

"What—" Yami just stared as Jounouchi's gaze met his, "what the hell—"

"I told you, Yami," Ushio said as Yami took a few involuntary steps forward. "I'm your personal bodyguard now. It's my duty to punish these vermin."

"No," Yami shook himself out of his trance. "No, this—this is not—"

"I should have guessed," Jounouchi said, earning Yami's attention once again. "Are you satisfied?"

"No!" Yami said incredulously. "Why would I—"

"Move over, Yami," Ushio grabbed Yami's shoulder and pulled him back. "I'm not done punishing these guys." Ushio delivered a swift kick to Jounouchi's midsection. The choked huff that Jounouchi made was too much and Yami found himself standing between the two and staring defiantly up at Ushio.

"I said move over," Ushio reached out but Yami swat his arm away.

"No."

"What, are you protecting these jerks?" Ushio laughed. "This is your chance for revenge! Punch. Kick. Show them they're worth less than the dirt beneath your feet!"

"The only person worth less than dirt here is you!" Yami thought he heard a gasp from behind, but he ignored it.

"You're a strange guy," Ushio crossed his arms. "Most people hate those that bully them."

"I don't hate them," Yami said. "They're annoying, but they're not bullies. This—they don't deserve any of this."

"Well, alright then," Ushio shrugged. "Doesn't matter as long as you pay my protection fee. That'll be ￥200 000."

Yami raised his eyebrows, "Are—are you serious? I told you before that I didn't want—"

"Regardless of how my services were provided," Ushio grinned maliciously. "They were provided. Surely you're not suggesting I not get paid for my work."

"That's exactly what I'm suggesting!" Yami shouted. "You can't treat people like this and expect to be rewarded!"

"Maybe I should treat them worse," Ushio said, uncrossing his arms and cracking his knuckles. "I could always beat them more."

Yami glowered, "You've done more than enough. Leave."

"Not before I persuade you to give me what's mine," Ushio grabbed Yami by the front of his jacket and lifted him off the ground. "My arguments can leave quite the impression on people."

-Line-

Jounouchi watched as Ushio gave Yami them same treatment he had given them. Ushio's hits rained down on Yami, each one accompanied by the familiar percussion of abuse on skin. The strangest thing was that Yami didn't even lift his hands to defend himself. Instead he seemed more focused on maneuvering himself so that his every fall and stumble placed himself between them and Ushio.

 _Yami…_ _are you protecting us?_

Jounouchi couldn't understand it. Yami always seemed to be so standoffish and superior. He was always so quiet and stoic, only ever opening his mouth to say some sarcastic remark. Why would he do this?

A final kick threw Yami well off to the side. He coughed with his arms wrapped protectively around his middle while Ushio stood over him and laughed.

"I suppose that's enough for today," Ushio mocked. "At least until tomorrow, if you don't get me what's mine." There was a heavy pause where he reached into his pocket and pulled out a knife. "Believe me, this pain is nothing compared to what I could teach you with this."

Jounouchi gasped and his gaze darted to Yami, who just stared up at Ushio defiantly. It was only with careful observation that Jounouchi saw the fear in those amethyst eyes.

"Heh," Ushio laughed and stowed the knife away. "You have until tomorrow."

As Ushio walked away, Yami pushed himself up so that he was resting against the opposite wall, seemingly unaware that he was being watched. Maybe he thought he and Honda were too banged up to be paying him any attention, or maybe he just didn't care if they did. Whatever the case, it was with surprise that Jounouchi noticed just how broken Yami looked. It was as if he had been wearing a mask all this time and only now did it fall away to reveal a face that spoke of hurt and frustration, and eyes that were bright with an almost quiet resignation.

"Yami?" Jounouchi said before he could stop himself. It was like a switch had been flicked as the stern mask returned to Yami's face and he pushed himself to his feet.

"Jounouchi," Yami nodded, failing horribly at hiding a wince as he shifted his weight. "Are you two alright?"

"Uh…" Jounouchi blinked, almost at a loss for words. He looked over at Honda, who stopped glaring at Yami to meet his gaze and nod. "Yea. Yea, I think so."

"Good," Yami said, and turned to walk back around the way he came.

Jounouchi was about to call out for him until Honda's groan as he tried to get up silenced him. Right, they should take care of themselves first, and then Jounouchi could find some way to thank Yami for what he did, preferably a way that didn't involve much talking. Or any talking really.

Slowly, an idea began to form.

-Line-

 _Click._

￥200 000.

 _Click_.

Where the hell was he going to get ￥200 000?

 _Clack._

Of course, there was the option of just not paying.

 _Clack!_

He really didn't want to have to pay.

 _Clack!_

Yea, there was the logic of picking your battles but if he gave in once, Ushio might try to extort him again in the future.

 _Clack!_

That is, assuming he had a future if Ushio decided to pull that knife on him tomorrow.

 _Clack!_

Yami looked down at his hands and noticed with some shock that he had made a lot more progress with the puzzle than he had thought. While only a couple pieces had fit together before, suddenly there was a mostly completed pyramid in his hands.

Putting his concerns over Ushio on hold, he focused all his attention on the puzzle. He didn't understand why it was so easy now that he felt more terrible than he ever had in his life, but it was. With each piece he slid into place, he felt a bit of his helplessness fall away.

Before he knew it, he was only one piece away from completing his eight-year task. He reached into the puzzle box only to find it empty. Panic gripped his heart as he turned the box over and searched around his desk, his pace turning from careful to frantic. Soon, he was flipping over actual pieces of furniture in his haste.

Where could it be? He knew he had it at one point so it couldn't have been gone for long. It was pretty difficult to forget that distinctive eye marking on that piece. It had to be somewhere. It just had to. He was always so careful. He always put every piece back into the box when he was done. It had to be here. It just had to be.

He fell to his knees, his room in complete disarray. Drawers gone and upended from their dresser. Chair tipped over on its side. Mattress balanced haphazardly against the wall. Still for all he tried to keep him room tidy, he couldn't care less in the face of the most crushing realization he had ever experienced.

 _My wish will never come true._

Tears burned his eyes and pain burst from his fist as he slammed it against the floor. Eight years. Eight _long_ years he spent trying to solve this puzzle. He'd poured _everything_ into it. His hopes. His dreams. His heart. Everything that made him who he was, all of it, was in that puzzle. Losing that piece was like losing a part of himself.

 _No,_ he swore. _I will not let this defeat me!_

He shot up to his feet, grabbed his school jacket from where it was hung on his doorknob, and shoved his arms through the sleeves before picking up the puzzle and stalking out of his room.

-Line-

Jounouchi shivered while the street lamps flickered into light above him, bathing him in their yellow glow. His waterlogged clothes clung uncomfortably to his skin while the crisp evening air chilled him down to his bones. He cursed the bus driver who wouldn't let him onboard.

 _Disrupt the other riders my ass_ , he thought. _Stupid jerk making me walk the whole way. Where is this damn game shop?_ He was passing a lot of shops, but none of them looked remotely like Kame Game.

He was starting to wonder if he was even in the right area when he saw Yami angrily walking in the opposite direction on the other side of the street. It didn't look like he'd noticed Jounouchi yet, and he couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not. His eyes were caught between determined and murderous, and his hand was curled protectively around the nearly completed puzzle hanging from his neck.

 _Well, if fate put him in my path I better get on with it_ , Jounouchi thought to himself as he started crossing to the other side of the street and waved.

"Hey!"

Yami looked up, shock quickly morphing into annoyance. "I don't have time for your nonsense, Jounouchi," he made to walk past him, eyes focused ahead as Jounouchi fell into step. "I have to do something important."

"Is that why you're out on an angry night walk?"

"I mean it, Jou. Not now."

"Sorry," Jounouchi raised his hands up in an attempt to placate, "I'm not trying to get a rise out of you."

"Is that why you're stalking me?" Yami looked at him askance as they neared a corner store. It was at that point Jounouchi realized that Yami was headed back toward the school. "And why are you drenched?"

"Actually, I, uh," Jounouchi anxiously put his hands into his pockets. Damn, why did making amends have to be so hard? A part of him wished a meteor would hit him so he wouldn't have to deal with this.

They were just passing the corner store when the door opened and Ushio stepped out with an unlit cigarette between his lips and a lighter in hand. _Damn!_

Jounouchi and Yami stopped short, the sudden movement likely earning Ushio's attention. He seemed surprised, but that didn't last long before a cruel grin took over his face. _Double damn!_

"Heh," Ushio said. "Didn't expect to see you so soon. Looking for me?"

"Fuck off, Ushio," Jounouchi said, cursing his complete lack of self-preservation. Ushio glowered at him before turning to Yami with a smile.

"So do you have my money?"

"No," Yami glared. "You said I have until tomorrow. Last I checked, it's not tomorrow."

"Doesn't mean you can't pay early," Ushio not-so-casually put a hand in his pocket. "Or I could always hock that gawdy necklace you've got there." Yami tensed beside Jounouchi. "Even broken, I'm sure it's worth at least ￥200 000."

Jounouchi darted forward and sucker punched Ushio in the gut. As Ushio doubled over, Jounouchi reach back, grabbed Yami's sleeve, and pulled.

"What the hell!" Yami shouted as they ran past Ushio and toward the school. Ushio had recovered and was in thunderous pursuit. Thankfully weighed down by his size, but still fast enough that they were still in his sights.

"I panicked!" Jounouchi shouted back, letting go of Yami's sleeve. They passed through the school gates. Whether that was good or bad was anyone's guess. "I don't trust guys with pocketknives."

"I had it under control! You didn't have to—" Yami's sentence was interrupted by something gold falling out of Jounouchi's pocket and clattering when it hit the pavement. Yami stopped almost impressively on the spot and scooped up the piece.

Jounouchi skid to a halt and looked back. Yami looked at him with furious disbelief while Ushio was just furious and getting too close too fast with that knife in his hand. In a few seconds, he'd be on them.

"Yami!" Jounouchi shouted.

Yami looked back at Ushio and started to run, only for Ushio to grab the edge of his jacket and throw him to the ground. Ushio loomed over Yami's form, knife glinting in the artificial light, with a sadistic grin.

Jounouchi watched as Yami, who in a moment that could only be described as a lapse in judgment brought on by dumb panic, slammed the gold piece into the pendant's slot. His puzzle was complete.

A golden blast of light knocked Jounouchi on his ass. Groaning, he pushed himself up enough to see Ushio doing the same, apparently knocked back by whatever it was that knocked Jounouchi over.

Most startling though, was Yami himself. He stood to his feet calmly with one hand cradling the puzzle and his head down, hair blocking his eyes. Maybe it was a trick of the light, or the aftereffects of something Jounouchi couldn't even begin to understand, but the eye of the puzzle seemed to be glowing. There was something about it that seemed both awesome and terrible.

Jounouchi was distracted from the puzzle when Yami laughed. Or at least, the laughter looked like it was coming from Yami. His shoulders shook and his chest moved. The sound, though, was most definitely _not_ Yami.

"What the…"

Yami turned his far toward the sky, hair parting to reveal a glowing, golden eye like the one on the puzzle on Yami's forehead. Yami's own eyes were closed and there was an odd sereneness about his face as he took a deep breath. It was almost like he was savoring the moment.

"Yami!" Ushio's shout didn't seem to bother Yami, but it sure bothered Jounouchi. He sprang to his feet as Ushio did, ready to fight, but Yami just turned to calmly face Ushio.

"Good of you to come, Ushio," Yami said is a voice that was most definitely not his and the glowing eye faded away. "Though I think this meeting could have started off a lot better."

 _Meeting? Had Yami planned this?_

"W-What the hell?" Ushio seemed just as lost as Jounouchi, though his tone suggested he was clearly so much angrier. "What are you playing at Yami?"

"Yami? Huh," Yami mused. "It sounds right, but…"

He looked back at Jounouchi and nearly scared him out of his skin. Yami's eyes. Those were not Yami's eyes. They were so wide and eager to take in everything. Nothing like the closed detachment Yami's eyes usually held. And were they red?

"We're friends, right?"

"F-Friends?" Jounouchi took a careful step back. "I, uh, s-sure?"

"Great!" Yami said with a large, bubbly smile. "Friends use nicknames! That should make things better. But what would be a good nickname for me…"

Jounouchi just stared as Yami stood there looking thoughtful. _Friends_? He must have been joking, if not completely delusional. Still, the way he said it. It sounded so genuine and unwavering that Jounouchi couldn't help but believe it to be true.

"I've got it!" Yami said as he clapped his hand with his fist. "You can call me Yuugi! I think it's a pretty fitting name, don't you?"

Yami- no, _Yuugi_ laughed, and Jounouchi found himself nervously smiling along with him. How could someone be so fucking _happy_?

"Cut the crap, kid!" Ushio shouted. Yuugi sighed and looked back at Ushio over his shoulder. "Where's my ￥200 000?"

"Oh!" Yuugi smacked his forehead with his one hand and produced a thick wad of cash from his pocket with the other. "￥200 000? I'm so embarrassed. I brought ￥400 000 by mistake."

 _400 000_? Jounouchi was dumbstruck. He had the money on him the whole time? _What. The. Fuck._

Ushio took a step forward and reached out for the money, only for Yuugi to pull it out of arms reach.

"Hmm," Yuugi hummed and flipped through the cash. "Since there's an extra ￥200 000, why don't we make a game of it?" Yuugi smiled again. "Sounds a lot more fun than simply handing it over, doesn't it? And the only thing we'll need will be that blade in your hand."

Ushio started, as though he'd forgotten he was holding a knife at all, but nodded. "What kind of game are you thinking?"

"Have you ever heard of a Shadow Game?" Yuugi asked as he started walking and gestured for Ushio to follow. Without making the conscious choice, Jounouchi found himself following as well. That night was already so strange, and Yuugi might need his help.

"I can't say I have," Ushio said. "Where are you leading me?"

"I'm here too," Jounouchi grumbled. Yuugi shot him a quick sympathetic look, but said nothing until they had made it to the sports field and were standing next to step platforms stacked waist high. Yuugi took the cash and Ushio's knife and placed them on top of the steps.

"The game is set."

-Line-

Jounouchi grew more and more anxious as the 'Shadow Game' neared its end. When Yuugi first explained the rules, Jounouchi had thought it was the most insane thing he'd ever heard, including everything else that had happened that night. Seeing Yuugi place the cash on top of his hand and stab it however, was something else entirely. He could understand why Yuugi had said control was the most important aspect of this game.

It was Ushio's turn again and while there were much fewer bills left, Ushio was just arrogant as the game started.

"This is so easy," Ushio gloated, holding the knife with a white knuckled hand. "I may as well just take the cash and forget the game!"

"Taking the cash would break one of the rules," Yuugi shrugged, eyes betraying something Jounouchi couldn't identify. "You remember what I said would happen if you cheat."

"Yea, yea," Ushio rolled his eyes. His grip on the knife was so tight his entire hand was shaking. "Penalty game. Whatever."

"And don't stab your hand either," Yuugi warned.

"Don't worry about my hand," the tone of Ushio's voice set off alarms in Jounouchi's head. "I've figured out a way to get all the money without sacrificing my hand."

Jounouchi was in motion the moment Ushio drew his arm back.

"DIE, YAMI!"

Jounouchi collided with Ushio. His weight wasn't enough to knock Ushio over, but it was enough to change the course of the knife so that it became imbedded in plastic, not Yuugi.

Ushio turned on Jounouchi, mouth open with yet to be expressed rage, when his face was suddenly illuminated with a golden light. Jounouchi looked over to see the glowing eye had returned to Yuugi's forehead and he looked almost… sad. He was _disappointed_.

"Just as I thought," Yuugi's voice was quiet. "You couldn't follow the rules."

"Enough games!" Ushio jumped backward, clearly remembering how that light had thrown him back on his ass before. "What the hell is going on with that eye!?"

"This eye can see what's in your heart," Yuugi laughed ruefully. "It, much like the game, reveals your true self. I had hoped to be wrong but the eye doesn't lie. You are a greedy bully who hurt my friends and tried to steal money from me.

"Penalty Game!" Yuugi raised a hand and point directly at Ushio. An echo of the eye on Yuugi's forehead shot forward and washed over Ushio. "Illusion of Greed!"

Jounouchi watched in horror as Ushio screamed, covering his eyes under the intensity of the light directed at him. When the light faded and Ushio's hand fell from his face, there was a definite shift in demeanor. Ushio's face lit up as he looked around at dead leaves and garbage before he dove to the ground to scoop up as much of it as he could.

"Money!" Ushio shouted with his hands full of trash. "It's money!"

"This may be a happy ending for him," Yuugi said. Jounouchi looked over to see him watching Ushio sadly. The eye on his forehead was gone once again, but Jounouchi was still unnerved.

"What the hell are you?" Jounouchi blurted out. Yuugi seemed just as surprised by Jounouchi's question as Jounouchi was.

"I mean," Jounochi went on, "I know you're human, probably. But you're not… you're not Yami, are you?"

Yuugi was quiet for a long time. So long in fact, that Jounouchi thought Yuugi wasn't going to answer. When Yuugi started collecting damaged playing cards from where they had fallen during the game, Jounouchi _knew_ that Yuugi wasn't going to answer. Wait, playing cards?

"What happened to all the cash?" Jounouchi asked. When Yuugi looked up at him, perplexed, Jounouchi clarified. "I mean, what happened to the ￥400 000?"

"Oh that!" Yuugi said, picked up the last of the cards from the ground and shoved them in him pocket. "I wondered if I'd gone overboard, but I knew he wouldn't leave us alone until I paid up, and he definitely wouldn't have played my game if I hadn't sweetened the deal enough that he couldn't refuse."

"Does that mean you, uh, you turned those cards into money?" It sounded stupid to Jounouchi's ears, but it was worth asking. Knowing someone who could turn cards into cash would go a long way to solving some of his problems. Unfortunately, Yuugi shook his head. _Damn_.

"The cards were in my pocket at the time," Yuugi explained. "I don't know about you, but ￥200 000, let alone twice that much. I had to improvise, so I cast an illusion."

Jounouchi felt his face blanche. Ushio's scream haunted him and that the same thing had happened to him, even on a smaller scale, was most definitely not okay with him.

"I'm sorry," Yuugi rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, apparently catching on to Jounouchi's discomfort. "If it helps, it still looked and felt like cash to me too until the spell broke."

That was… better Jounouchi supposed. He didn't like having his head messed with, but at least it wasn't just him. He shook his head. There were other things that needed to be addressed now.

"You still haven't answered my question," Jounouchi said. "Are you Yami, or not?"

"I think so?" Yuugi hedged. "I have all my memories of being Yami, but…" His eyes grew distant for a moment, pensive. "I'm not sure how to describe it. Something happened when I solved the puzzle."

"The puzzle?" Jounouchi glanced at the pyramid hanging from Yuugi's neck.

"It… awakened me," Yuugi said thoughtfully. "Or at least, this version of me."

"And the other version?"

Yuugi smiled softly, placing a hand on his heart. "Still here. Though, I'm not sure how much of tonight I'll remember tomorrow."

"Do you mean you or, uh, the other you?" Jounouchi asked, feeling as confused as he did in their English classes. Two Yamis was a confusing subject and he was suddenly very thankful Yuugi had the foresight to distinguish himself from… himself.

Yuugi grinned and his hand fell to his side. "My other self. He might be a little furious when he remembers you stole a piece of our puzzle."

Jounouchi tensed. "You, uh, you know about that?"

"I do still have my memories," Yuugi laughed. "Even if they might not belong to me."

"You're not," Jounouchi shuffled on his feet and glanced in Ushio's direction. "You're not going to challenge me to one of those Shadow Game things, are you?"

"What?" Yuugi's brows drew together. "Why would I do that?"

"I, uh," Jounouchi really hoped he wasn't digging his own grave here. "I did kind of steal from you."

"But you returned it," Yuugi said assuredly. "Or, you were planning to before we had our run in with Ushio."

"What makes you think I was planning to return it?"

"Why else would you cross the street to talk to me?"

Jounouchi really didn't have an answer to that. If it hadn't been for Yami standing up to Ushio, Jounouchi probably wouldn't have paid Yami any mind if he had happened to see him on the street. It wasn't like they were exactly friends. Speaking of…

"Did you mean that before?" Jounouchi asked. "When you said we were friends?"

"Yea! I mean," Yuugi shrugged sheepishly as he looked away nervously. "I had hoped so. I know you think I'm stuck up and antisocial—"

"I don't think _you're_ stuck up or antisocial," Jounouchi said carefully before slipping into a teasing tone. "A little more talkative and childish maybe."

"I'm not—" Yuugi started defensively before pinching the bridge of his nose. It was a little funny, actually. Yuugi's hand fell from his face and he started over. "Not the point. The point is, I really think we could be friends. If, uh, if you'd be interested in that."

Jounouchi didn't know what to say. It wasn't often someone asked if they could be friends with him, much less in that sheepish way Yuugi spoke. Then again, it wasn't often he saw a classmate use mystical powers to disarm someone who had no problem extorting people for money or murder. Before he knew it, Jounouchi found himself laughing.

"Oh," Yuugi looked absolutely crestfallen, bringing Jounouchi back to reality. "It's okay, we don't have to—"

"No!" Jounouchi said urgently. "No, that's not it. I, well, shit. Yea, we could try being friends."

"Really?" Yuugi asked hopefully. "Promise?" His voice was so stupidly optimistic that if Jounouchi hadn't just seen him take down arguably the most dangerous guy at their school, he might have called it pathetic. Or pathetically sweet.

"Yea," Jounouchi smiled. He then immediately looked away and kicked the ground just to have something to do that didn't involve any of this touchy-feely garbage. "Friends sounds… nice."

The arms that wrapped around his waist were a surprise. Jounouchi tensed and a yelp caught in his throat. He looked down and the tips of Yuugi's spiky hair tickled his nose, but even so Jounouchi couldn't bring himself to push the guy off.

"Thank you, Jounouchi," Yuugi's embrace tightened and Jounouchi's arms wrapped themselves loosely around Yuugi. This was definitely the weirdest part of the night.

Yuugi suddenly went limp and it was only thanks to Jounouchi's arms around him that he didn't fall.

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi gently lowered the unconscious body to the ground and pat his cheek. Yuugi's eyelids fluttered. "Yuugi, you okay?"

"Jounouchi?"

"Yami?" Jounouchi helped to maneuver Yami into a seated position. "How- what- what just happened?"

"I don't know," Yami said as he looked around and caught sight of Ushio, who was still hoarding whatever gross thing he found. When Yami looked back at Jounouchi, it was with a face so full of confusion and eyes so edged with fear that Jounouchi could come to only one critical conclusion.

 _He doesn't remember_.

-Line-

The last thing Yami remembered was Ushio throwing him to the ground and standing over him with that knife. Yami took a quick inventory, sighing with relief when he realized the only injuries he'd sustained were the ones he'd earned in the initial fall. But then, why had he blacked out?

"Are you okay?" Jounouchi asked. If Yami didn't know better, he'd say Jounouchi was actually concerned.

"I…" Yami looked down, unsure what to say. That's when he noticed it. Moving faster than he ever thought he could, Yami picked up the gold pyramid and stared into the Eye of Horus. Finally, after eight long years, he'd completed the Millennium Puzzle.

He was so lost in awe that it took him a moment to realize Jounouchi had stood up and was offering his hand. Yami looked up to see a nervous smile on Jounouchi's face.

"You need a hand… friend?"

"Friend?" Yami questioned. Could his wish have… then he remembered another detail and smacked Jounouchi's hand away. "You stole a piece of my puzzle, asshole!" Yami shot up to his feet in anger and balled his hands into fists.

"You think you can hold out a hand and call me 'friend' like you haven't been tormenting me since our first class together?"

"Yami—"

"No!" Yami shouted. "I'm going home. Don't follow me."

He turned around stormed toward the school gate. How the hell had they gotten so far away from where Yami had fallen? He was starting to wonder who he should call about Ushio when he heard Jounouchi shout his name. Yami turned around to see Jounouchi stare him down.

"I made a promise," Jounouchi said with determination, "and I don't intend to break it. I'll see you in class tomorrow, _friend!_ "

Yami shook his head, disbelieving, and continued his way back home. Jounouchi had gall, Yami would give him that, but it didn't make sense. What the hell happened while he was blacked out?

He paused at the school gate and wrapped a hand around the puzzle hanging from his neck. It was the strangest thing. He'd spent so long trying to solve this puzzle. Toyed with it every day. Now that it was complete, something was different. The once cold pieces felt warm under his touch. Alive, somehow.

Yami smiled and continued homeward, feeling like he was at the start of something wonderful.


	2. Chapter 2

Yami stepped off the bus and started walking toward Domino High. The air was cool, but not overly so, and people largely left him alone so he was free to let his thoughts wander. It was nice.

The puzzle bounced rhythmically against his chest, almost like a second heartbeat. The constant reminder of the puzzle's presence, while comforting, also brought his grandfather to the forefront of his mind. Every morning since he'd solved the puzzle, he'd been looking at Yami expectantly, as if waiting for something to happen. It was odd, but not nearly as strange as their conversation nearly two weeks prior.

-Line-

 _"You completed the puzzle!_ " _Sugoroku exclaimed over breakfast. Yami took a bite of his eggs on toast while his grandfather took the puzzle in his hands and turned it over, the rope swinging with each movement. He sat there and basked in a silent pride until Sugoroku's hand covered his forehead._

 _"Uh, gramps?" Yami asked uncomfortably and put his breakfast down on his plate. "What are you—"_

 _"Just checking," Sugoroku took his hand back and returned the puzzle to Yami. "Since solving the puzzle, do you feel… different?"_

 _"Different how?" Yami asked as he pulled the rope over his head. The puzzle's weight rested comfortably against his chest._

 _"Any fevers? Visions? Secret knowledge?"_

 _"If it's secret, how would I know I have it?"_

 _"I don't know how your sweet mother could have raised such a sarcastic child," Sugokoru clicked his tongue._

 _"You have met my mother, haven't you?" Yami laughed and stood up. "I have to go catch the bus."_

 _"Without finishing your breakfast?" Sugoroku glanced disapprovingly at the half eaten food at Yami's spot at the table. "Surely you have time to do that."_

 _"Not without missing my first class," Yami picked up his bag from its place by the door. It felt oddly light without the puzzle box inside. "See you."_

 _"Yes, yes," Sugoroku waved him off. "Go catch your bus. And Yami… be careful."_

-Line-

Yami paused halfway from between the bus stop and the school gate. His grandfather could really be strange sometimes. All this supernatural 'dark knowledge' stuff was just a little too out there for Yami. As thrilled and proud as he was that he had managed to solve the impossible, it was safe to say that nothing magical or strange had happened because of it.

"Yo! Yami!"

 _Except that._ Yami groaned and turned around to see Jounouchi waving as he ran toward him with a dopey grin.

"Fuck off, Jou," Yami turned back around and stalked off. Not that it mattered much as Jounouchi easily caught up to match his stride. "How many ways do I have to say it before it gets through your thick skull that I'm still pissed at you?"

"Someone's cranky," Jounouchi quipped, but seemed largely unaffected by Yami's sharp tones. "Did you not sleep well last night?"

"Not entirely sure I woke up," Yami shook his head. "I seem to be stuck in this recurring nightmare where you keep following me around like a shadow."

"A little ironic, isn't it?" Jounouchi raised his brows and god, did he look smug. Yami huffed and did his best to ignore the irritant that plagued him.

"Whoa," Jounouchi nudged Yami's arm as they neared the gate and pointed to a white van with the letters 'ZTV' prominently displayed on the doors. The two stopped to check out the blackout windows. "I wonder what a television van is doing outside of the school?"

"Don't know," Yami shrugged with indifference. "Maybe an idol."

"What!?" Jounouchi turned excitedly to Yami. "You think so?"

Yami smirked and started walking again, "You're too gullible, Jou."

"Hmph," Jounouchi shoved his hands into his pockets with a very put upon pout on his face and he kept step with Yami. "You really can be a jerk sometimes, you know that?"

"Does this mean you're going to stop following me around?"

"Nope!" Jounouchi grinned, apparently recovered from his sulk. Yami was almost impressed. "You're just gonna have to get used to me."

"Lucky me."

-Line-

Usohaki flipped his cell phone shut with a ' _clack!'_ and huffed. His producers just didn't appreciate his creative genius the way they should. No matter. He could definitely prove his worth with this new project. He just needed to find the perfect star.

Sadly, no one really struck him as having that star quality his production called for. Oh sure, there were a few good marks, but no one that air of squishy softness that just begged to be broken.

Was it really too much to ask for a little less of a challenge to cast the perfect star? It wasn't like he was expecting a target to push its face against his window in answer to his silent casting call, but in a high school like this, there had to be at least a handful of undiscovered talents waiting to be shot. With a camera, of course. Although, that wasn't a bad idea for his next project if this one went well.

The door on the opposite side of the car opened and the assistant director, Fujita, stuck his head inside. He bowed with a stiff jerk of his neck, seeming to buzz with the nervous energy that came with his interactions with Usohaki.

"Director?" Fujita said.

"What is it?" Usohaki leaned back in his seat. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of creative contemplation? Do you want this project to be ruined because of your interruptions?"

"Sorry!" Fujita bowed his head again. "I didn't mean to interrupt. It's just… the reporter is about to shoot the intro and, well, we're not sure what's supposed to happen after that."

Usohaki directed his gaze back to the school. "It's just a matter of finding the right star."

-Line-

Yami walked into the classroom, nearly bumping into a small, timid looking student as he did so. As the two took a step back, Yami recognized the boy as Hanasaki.

"Oh," Yami stepped aside to allow Hanasaki space to pass. "You okay?"

"Oh, uh," Hanasaki smiled awkwardly as he walked out of the room. "Yea. I'm fine. Thank you."

"Good," Yami nodded and sidestepped his way into the room as Hanasaki slid past him and into the hallway. At his entrance, Anzu looked up and waved from where she stood leaning against her friend, Miho's, desk while Miho herself looked over and waved with a soft smile.

"Hey Yami," Anzu smiled at his approach. "You're missing your tag-along. Did Jounouchi finally get tired of his little game?"

"Unfortunately not," Yami leaned against a neighboring desk, letting his hands rest on its surface. "I'm sure once he's back from the lavatory, he'll be right back to annoying me."

"Ugh," Anzu crossed her arms. "That guy needs a life. What is he even trying to accomplish with this fake friendship routine?"

"I'm not sure," Yami said. "I honestly thought he'd get bored of it by now."

"Do you really think he's faking?" Miho asked, seemingly before she could stop herself.

"It doesn't make sense why he wouldn't be," Anzu uncrossed her arms and let her hands rest on the desk. "I mean, he's never shown any interest in being Yami's friend before. Why now?"

Miho shrugged. "Maybe he's grateful to Yami for standing up to Ushio like he did."

"Maybe," Anzu hesitated, "but Yami hasn't exactly been all that receptive. You'd think that Jounouchi would have taken the hint to leave him alone, but he hasn't. He's not actually that stupid, so I get the feeling he's hiding something."

"What do you think he'd be trying to hide?" Yami asked, intrigued.

"I don't know," Anzu said as a thoughtful look crossed her face. "I don't really have anything solid to go on, but my gut's usually right about this sort of thing. And right now it's telling me that Jounouchi isn't being completely honest with you."

Yami nodded and considered her words. If he was being honest, he had thought the same thing, though for different reasons. He hadn't told the girls about the night he solved the puzzle or how he blacked out. He suspected the latter was Ushio's doing, but even so it didn't explain what happened between Ushio standing over him with a knife and waking up to Jounouchi hovering over him with concern.

"Still," Miho's voice broke Yami's reverie, much to his relief. Really, the less time he spent thinking about his blackout the better. "I think you should give him a chance."

"Why should he?" Anzu asked. "He hasn't exactly given Yami much of a reason to trust him."

"He just seems…" Miho trailed off, looking for the tail end of her thought. "Different. I mean, I don't really know him, but for the first time he seems… genuine."

"Genuine?" Yami asked with a raised brow.

"Well," Miho said with a small shrug. "It's been two weeks and he's still trying. Doesn't that mean he's changed, even if it's only by a little bit?"

"Jounouchi's always trying," Yami said, smiling when Anzu laughed and Miho shook her head. "As for him changing, maybe he has. But does that mean I should start trusting him?"

"Well, trust him or not," Anzu said with a smile. "That's your decision, and I'll support whatever you choose. Just know that if he does anything that breaks that trust, Ribbon-chan will hold him down and I'll kick his ass."

"I can believe that," Yami chuckled as Miho stifled a laugh of her own behind her hand. "Thank you."

-Line-

As their sensei droned on about quadratic equations, Jounouchi tapped a pencil against his notebook thoughtfully. The more he thought, the more he realized that crux of his problem was Yuugi. Or rather, the problem was a lack of Yuugi.

It had been nearly two weeks since Jounouchi had made that promise of friendship and so far there was no sign of Yuugi coming back. He'd thought for sure that al least by now Yuugi would have made another appearance. Had Jounouchi done something wrong?

He glanced over to where Yami sat a few desks away. Yami, for his part, studiously ignored Jounouchi as he moved his pencil in lazy strokes over the pages of his notebook.

Jounouchi sighed and went back to staring into space. It wasn't exactly like he could ask Yami if anything was wrong. Jounouchi could barely believe what had happened with Ushio himself, and he couldn't imagine how Yami would react if Jounouchi asked him about it.

A thought suddenly struck him. If Yuugi hadn't made an appearance on his own, maybe it was because he couldn't. Maybe he needed a little help from Jounouchi on the outside.

The question was, how could he draw Yuugi out when he wasn't entirely sure what drew him out the first time? He thought back to that night, but nothing stood out apart from Yami putting the puzzle together. Jounouchi briefly entertained the idea of taking one of the pieces out and putting it back in, but there was no way that Yami would let him near the puzzle, let alone break it. So far Yami was the biggest obstacle in Jounouchi's fulfillment of his promise.

There had to be something else. Something that happened that night that could help him pull Yuugi out. First, Yami solved the puzzle. Then Yuugi spoke to Ushio. Then he called himself 'Yuugi' and challenged Ushio to a Shadow Game—

 _Wait!_ Jounouchi thought. _Game… Yuugi. He called himself_ Yuugi _._

What was it that Yuugi had said when he'd chosen his name? _'I think it's a pretty fitting name.'_ He'd thought that had just been a reference to his Shadow Games, but what if that was the key to seeing him again?

Jounouchi looked back over to Yami, this time eyeing the puzzle that hung around his neck.

 _Hold on, Yuugi._

 _-_ Line _-_

"I know how to break through to you."

Yami groaned and glared sidelong at Jounouchi, who had pulled up a chair and rested his arm on Yami's desk. Couldn't Yami enjoy his lunch period in peace? "What do you want, Jounouchi?"

"It's simple, really," Jounouchi said and leveled Yami with a significant look. "I wanna play a game."

Yami was about to tell him off when some fleeting light reflected off the gold surface of the puzzle. Yami looked around to see if he could find the source of the, only to find nothing that could have been responsible. Maybe it was the sunlight? His gaze fell back to the pyramid, which now hung inconspicuous and inert around his neck. Had he imagined it?

When Yami turned his attention back to Jounouchi, he was surprised to find Jounouchi staring at him with focused determination. It was as if he was trying to see through him to the other side, which was more than a little unnerving.

"Uh, Jounouchi?" Yami shifted uncomfortably. "Are you okay?"

"Oh," Jounouchi blinked away the intensity of his stare. "Uh, yea. Yea, I'm good! So, how about a game?"

"Ugh," Yami shook his head. "If I play a game with you, will you leave me alone?"

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Jounouchi's smug grin pissed Yami off.

"Fine," Yami said as he grabbed his schoolbag and searched the pockets until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a smaller bag and hung his schoolbag back on its desk hook.

"Well, Jounouchi?" Yami smirked and emptied the small bag of its contents. The six dice clattered against the desk surface. "How about a little wager?"

"Uh," Jounouchi eyed the dice a little too nervously, like he expected them to explode. "What kind of wager?"

"We play a game, like you said," Yami gestured to the dice. "If I win, you leave me alone for good. If you win, I'll play along with your friendship charade. What do you say?" Jounouchi went silent and Yami took a moment to revel in it.

"Alright!"

Yami was taken aback at the sudden shift in Jounouchi's demeanor. Jounouchi sat there with determination burning in his eyes and a confident grin stretching across his face.

"You're sure?" Yami found himself saying, for a lack of anything better to say.

"Sure I'm sure!" Jounouchi said excitedly and gestured to the dice as well. "What are the rules?"

Yami thought a moment, smirked, and then picked up all six dice with one hand. "The name of the game is significant. The name of the game is Knights Surrounding the Castle."

"Uh, what?"

"It's simple," Yami said and rolled the dice. "All you have to do is use the dice to figure out the score of the roll, or more simply how many knights there are. The number of knights will either be zero or an even number. If you can figure out the criteria for scoring and prove it by getting the score of five rolls in a row correct, you win. However, if you can't figure it out by the end of the day, you lose."

"Uh…" Jounouchi stared at the dice. "Can you run that by me again?"

"The number of knights for this round is four," Yami pointed at the dice, before gathering them up and rolling again. "Now there are two."

"Oh," Jounouchi said with his brow scrunched with thought. "I think I get it. I have to figure out the rules for scoring to know how many knights there are."

"That's right," Yami smiled with confidence. "Think you're up to the challenge?"

"I was born ready," Jounouchi nodded. "Roll the dice."

-Line-

Fujita grumbled as he roamed the halls of Domino High in a uniform he'd pilfered from the locker room. The school had been mostly quiet when he'd first come in, but now the halls were teeming with students who were too caught up with their friends to pay him any mind.

A part of Fujita wanted to just leave and not come back. Really, how much did he need this job? Filmmaking was his passion, sure, but did that mean he had to put up with this kind of treatment? Should he really have to compromise his principles so that he could keep working at a job that was a watered down version of what he wanted to do with his life?

Then he thought about the rent he had to pay and the food he had to buy.

With a heavy sigh, Fujita went back to searching for a brat that was unlucky enough to have whatever traits the director had deemed 'star quality'. This meant someone weak. Someone quiet and inconspicuous. Someone who couldn't or wouldn't stand up for himself.

"…only five tickets."

Fujita perked up and looked around to find where that voice was coming from. There was an empty room a little further down that a couple passing students seemed very interested in ignoring, so Fujita crept over to the door and listened.

"For only ¥2000 a ticket, people can come and hear my magnificent singing voice. Just make sure to invite lots of pretty girls."

"I, uh, I don't know Soujouji—"

"I think you're under the impression that you have a choice. The party is in three weeks and I'm only giving you five tickets, so it's not like I'm being unreasonable here. Unless you want me to give you all fifteen—"

"No! Uh, I mean, no. I- I'll sell five."

"That's more like it! I knew I could count on you." A pause. "Oh, and if you fail to sell all five, well. Let's just say that whatever you're imagining doesn't come close to what I'm going to have to do to you."

Fujita risked a peek into the room and saw a burly student with headphones around his neck and a menacing smile on his face staring down at a very small and very resigned looking boy with glasses. This was it! This was the bully-victim paradigm the director was looking for. With any luck, Fujita wouldn't have to get involved with the violence at all.

He took a moment to hate his life before walking into the room.

-Line-

"Hmm," Jounouchi stared at the dice strewn across the desk, hoping his intensity would be enough to make them reveal their secrets. Two. Two. Two. One. Four. One. "Uh… hmm…"

"Are you ready to guess yet?" Yami's voice was somehow an equal blend of bored and annoyed. A tone he seemed to have mastered over the years.

"Just a second, I'm thinking."

"You've had ten minutes worth of seconds. You're not going to know if you're right unless you take a chance."

Jounouchi shot him a glare and looked back at the dice. Two, two, two, one, four, one. One, two, one, two, four, two. Two, one, two, two, one, four. Four, two, one, two, two, one.

"I think I got it," Jounouchi said with confidence. "The answer is six knights!"

"Congratulations," Yami said with a smile and Jounouchi perked up. "Your streak of wrong answers remains unbroken."

Jououchi settled back in his seat with a deflated groan. "You do realize that fake-outs like that are just cruel, don't you?"

"Perhaps," Yami shrugged, "but that's kind of our thing isn't it? Cruelty toward each other?"

"That was before—" Jounouchi caught himself before he could finish his sentence. It wasn't enough though, because Yami seemed to have picked up on something in his tone.

"Before what?" Yami asked, looking genuinely curious.

 _Before Yuugi,_ Jounouchi thought as he remembered the earnest set of Yuugi's eyes as he asked for Jounouchi's friendship and his teary excitement at Jounouchi's promise. He had to finish this game, for his sake. He shook his head and directed his gaze back to the dice.

"Just… before," Jounouchi gestured back to the dice. "So what was the answer?"

Yami's eyes narrowed, whether it was suspicion or doubt was anyone's guess, before picking up all six dice again. "The answer was zero."

"Zero!?" Jounouchi exclaimed with disbelief. "Are you sure you're not just pulling these numbers out of your ass?"

Yami laughed, "I'm sure. Now, are you ready to lose one more round before class starts?"

"Just roll the dice."

Yami nodded and shook his hand to roll. Before he cast the dice, something behind Jounouchi seemed to have caught his eye. Prompted by the concerned set of Yami's brow, Jounouchi turned around in his seat.

That Hanasaki kid had walked through the door, somehow looking smaller than usual. Upon closer inspection, Jounouchi could see Hanasaki's hands were twitching nervously and there was a shiftiness to his eyes.

"I wonder what's going on with him?" Jounouchi asked absentmindedly as he turned his attention back to Yami surprised to see a small portion of that vulnerability he'd seen after Ushio had knocked him around.

"I don't know," Yami said as his eyes followed Hanasaki's trek to his desk. "He seemed fine this morning." With a quick glance back to Jounouchi, Yami laughed and rolled the dice across the desk. "Five, three, five, five, four, two. Care to take a guess?"

"Uh," Jounouchi checked the classroom clock and back to the dice, cursing that class would resume in less than four minutes. "Zero?"

"Wrong. Fourteen."

"Oh come on!"

-Line-

The end of the day could not come fast enough for Yami, and when the bell rang for dismissal, he let out a sigh of relief. With any luck, Jounouchi would honour their deal and leave him alone.

"Yami!"

 _Damn._

"I thought we agreed that you had until the end of the day to figure it out," Yami said as he picked up his notebook and shoved it into his bag, resolutely not looking up at Jounouchi.

"That's right!" Jounouchi grinned, pointing out the window at the shining sun. "The day isn't over yet."

"I suppose I could have been more specific with my wording," Yami said, mentally kicking himself. "Fine, but I'm not going to hang around waiting for you to solve it. I have a life and I'd like to get back to it as soon as I can."

"I'm sure it won't take long," Jounouchi smirked. "I think I'm close to figuring out your little game."

Yami was about to respond when he noticed an upperclassman, Soujouji, walking into their classroom. As strange as it was to see him in their classroom, it was even stranger to see why.

"Hanasaki," Soujouji said, his smile using too much teeth and his brows too sharply set. Yami's gaze flicked to Hanasaki, who for all accounts, looked like a man about to be lead to the gallows.

"Uh, Yami?"

Yami paid Jounouchi little mind as he watched Hanasaki follow Soujouji, head hanging with apparent resignation. He wasn't even really aware he was following them until he hid behind the corner when he noticed Soujouji about to look back over his shoulder.

Behind Yami, Jounouchi stopped short to avoid a collision and pressed himself against the wall. Yami shot him a glare, but said nothing as he waited a moment and checked around the corner. Soujouji's back was to him as he continued to lead the trembling Hanasaki wherever they were going.

"So," Jounouchi whispered as he trailed Yami down the hall. "What is it we're doing?"

"I don't trust Soujouji," Yami answered honestly. That was not the face of someone with good intentions.

"I can't blame you there, "Jounouchi said, "Hanasaki looks scared shitless. But what's the plan? Are we confronting him?"

"I don't know," Yami said as their quarry led them outside. "We don't exactly have proof he's up to anything."

"So we're just going to follow him and see what happens?"

"Good thing you have two weeks of practice, isn't it?" Yami said absentmindedly. Jounouchi's responding snicker came as a surprise, and nearly shocked a laugh out of Yami himself.

They sobered quickly enough when Soujouji and Hanasaki disappeared around the corner and unfamiliar voices sounded in greeting. Yami and Jounouchi stopped as close to the corner as possible to listen in.

"You made it," the first voice said, sounding relieved. "I was worried you wouldn't show."

"Wouldn't miss it," Soujouji said. "I even escorted my friend here personally."

At Hanasaki's barely audible whimper, Yami chanced a peek around the corner. Soujouji, back to them, had his hand resting on Hanasaki's small shoulder. A rough looking man with a beard and a baseball cap appraised them and a college aged guy with in Domino High uniform looked on nervously. While this was definitely unsettling, what really set him on edge was the man standing nearby with a camera.

"Hmm," the rough looking man brought a thoughtful hand to his chin. "Yes, this could work."

"Great," Soujouji said again. "Before we begin though, I want to make sure our deal is still in effect."

"Don't worry, Fujita briefed me on your payment. Your faces will be covered by mosaic and I've already put in a word with a few colleagues. Just sing well at your audition, and you'll have it made."

"Perfect," Soujouji said, grin evident in his voice. "So, when do we start?"

The rough looking man stepped back so that he was out of the camera's view and murmured something to the cameraman. He turned his attention back on Soujouji and Hanasaki and gave a signal.

Soujouji let go of Hanasaki's shoulder to pull back his fist and Hanasaki braced for impact. The sound of knuckles smacking against flesh was all it took for Yami to realize he had already running toward the scene.

"STOP!"

-Line-

"CUT!"

Jounouchi stopped short beside Yami and every eye fell on them. Soujouji at least had the decency to lower his stilled fist as he shot an annoyed glare their way. Hanasaki, holding his face gingerly, looked like he wasn't sure if he should be relived or terrified at their interruption.

The man who yelled 'cut' stalked angrily toward them. He had to be a director or something, but what kind of director hired students to beat each other up like this?

"What the hell are you doing?" the director got up in their faces. "We're in the middle of filming!"

"And advancing my career!" Soujouji shouted.

"That's not how it looks on our end," Jounouchi crossed his arms. "Don't you have actors who can do this crap?"

"You're looking at them," the director gestured back. "Your little friend there was just unlucky enough to be cast in the role of bullied child. Nothing personal, just a bad roll of the dice."

"Shut up," Yami shook his head with apparent disgust. "You can't just abuse someone and call it 'acting'."

"Hey, I'm not about to have some kid tell me how to do my job," the director waved a dismissive hand. "Now get off my set."

"Our school beats your set," Yami said sharply, "and considering the hack job you're doing—"

The director's fist came fast and Yami spun from the force of this blow, staggering as he raised a hand to his face. Jounouchi didn't hesitate as he grabbed the director by the front of his grubby tee shirt and violently shook him. "What the hell—"

"Jounouchi."

 _Yuugi?_ Jounouchi looked away from the director to see Yuugi had regained his bearing and lowered his hand from his reddening cheek. The glowing light on his forehead was barely visible and fading fast.

 _He came back now? Two weeks of nothing, and this is the moment he chooses to show up?_

Yuugi shot him a brief smile before walking around the director and straight over to where Soujouji and Hanasaki stood.

"What the hell is going on!?" Soujouji adopted a domineering stance.

Yuugi showed no sign that he had even heard Soujouji. Instead, he stopped in front of Hanasaki and Soujouji's nostrils flared and he took a menacing step forward. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Jounouchi let go of the director and advanced forward a step, earning Soujouji's attention, and shook his head. With a roll of his eyes, Soujouji stepped back and crossed his arms as his expression morphed into one of annoyance. Jounouchi didn't bother to listen to his mutterings.

"Are you okay?" Yuugi asked Hanasaki, placing a gentle hand on Hanasaki's shoulder

"Oh, uh," Hanasaki eyed Yuugi, confusion written on his face, and nodded slowly. "Yea, uh. I'm- I'm fine. Thank you."

"Good," Yuugi said calmly, lowering his hand and nodding in the direction from where they had all come. "You'd better get out of here and take care of your face."

"He can't leave!" the director scowled. "We haven't finished—"

"Oh you're finished," Yuugi shot the director a sharp look that seemed a little out of place on his soft features. Hanasaki seemed hesitant, eyes darting between Soujouji, the director, Jounouchi, and Yuugi.

"It's okay," Yuugi assured. That was apparently all Hanasaki needed to hear before he bolted as fast as he could away from where he had stood and disappeared around the corner.

"Hey!" The director shouted loudly next to Jounouchi's ear, making him flinch. "Get back here you—"

"Don't worry," Yuugi spun to face the director so quickly he nearly tripped over his own feet. "You can still make your film as you wanted. I even offer myself up in Hanasaki's place."

"Really?" the director said and Jounouchi did not like that glint in his eyes. It reminded Jounouchi of a tiger that he'd seen in a movie once; hyper focused and predatory. Ready for the kill. "After you chased him away?"

"Hanasaki didn't have a choice to be here, but I do," Yuugi said simply.

"You'll really take the brat's place?"

"Yep! You can have Soujouji here do whatever you want to me and I won't do anything to stop him. You won't even have to pay me an actor's fee. But only if you can beat me in a game."

The director laughed, "You've got guts kid. I wouldn't have expected it from a runt like you."

"Full of surprises I guess," Yuugi said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly and cowing in on himself. If Jounouchi hadn't seen what this kid was capable of, he'd have said Yuugi looked pathetic. The director's eyes grew brighter.

"Fine," the director said with a patronizing smirk. "I'll play your game."

"What about me?" Soujouji said impatiently. "Am I just supposed to stand here while you guys waste time playing some stupid game?"

"Maybe you should play too," Yuugi suggested as he sat on the ground and crossed his legs. "Two on one betters your odds, doesn't it?"

"This is fucking stupid," Soujouji rolled his eyes. "I could just beat your ass now and be done with it."

"I'm sorry," Yuugi said. "I didn't realize you were a coward."

" _Excuse me?_ "

"You can always beat me to within an inch of my life once you win," Yuugi shrugged, and Jounouchi thought his tone was way too casual given what he'd just said. "A quick game is all I ask before the theatrics."

Soujouji glared murderously and seemed about to lash out his frustrations on Yuugi. Jounouchi cleared his throat, took a step forward, and cracked his knuckles, all while staring Soujouji down. Soujouji, for his part met Jounouchi's gaze head on before scoffing and taking a seat along with the director across from Yuugi.

"Before we begin," Yuugi said as Jounouchi, unsure what he was supposed to do, took a seat off to the side so he could watch. "I should warn you that this isn't an ordinary game."

"Just get to the game, kid," the director waved impatiently. "I've got to have the rough cut ready by tonight."

Yuugi nodded and shrugged off his backpack (well, Yami's backpack) and took out Yami's bag of dice.

"Since the era of Ancient Egypt, cleromancy has been used to interpret the will of fate. At the time they used astragalos made from animal bone. They were uneven and crooked, unlike modern dice."

"We're not in classes anymore," Soujouji groaned. "Stop with the history lesson and get to the game."

"The name of the game is significant," Yuugi said with a sly smile as he emptied the bag onto the concrete. "The name of the game is Lotus Flowers Around the Nile."

While Yuugi explained how to play the game, the director scoffed and Soujouji rolled his eyes dramatically. Jounouchi, for his part, just stared at Yuugi. He was using a different name for it, but there was no doubt in his mind that this was the same game Yami had used to challenge him. It couldn't be coincidence.

"And finally," Yuugi said as he gathered the dice in one hand, "You each only get three wrong answers each. If you fail to figure out the scoring rules or if you cheat, you'll be faced with a Penalty Game. Does you understand?"

"Just roll the dice," Soujouji grumbled.

"Okay," Yuugi nodded and rolled the dice. Once they settled, he looked up at the director. "Your turn."

The director looked down at the dice, scowled, and glared at Yuugi. "How in the hell am I supposed to figure out the score from a dice roll? Don't I at least get a hint or something?"

"I can't give you any more information than I've already given," Yuugi shook his head. "You have all the tools you need to figure it out yourself."

Jounouchi, confused, looked down at the dice. The answer didn't seem any more obvious than it had when he had been playing. The six dice sat there, almost mockingly. Five, two, three, five, six, three. Still, Yuugi had said that all the tools to figure it out the solution.

"Twenty-three flowers," the director said with pride, breaking Jounouchi out of his thoughts. "Did I get it?"

"Sorry!" Yuugi said, ever cheerful. "The answer was twelve."

 _Twelve?_ Jounouchi thought, looking down at the dice but failing to see how— _Wait!_ Jounouchi looked back at Yuugi. Could the answer really be so simple?

"If you want to work it out, I suggest you work together," Yuugi continued as he gathered up the dice. "Teamwork can be quite useful in situations like this. It also wouldn't hurt to take your time."

"Shut up," Soujouji interjected. "Let's just get this over with. I have a singing career to start."

"Alright," Yuugi smiled, unaffected, and rolled the dice again. "What's the answer?"

When the dice had settled, Jounouchi and Soujouji looked. Three, four, five, six, one, one. Gears turned in Jounouchi's head and when they settled, a single number made itself clear.

"I got it," Soujouji smirked triumphantly. "The answer is two."

 _Wrong_ , Jounouchi thought. _It's six._

"Sorry!" Yuugi chirped. "The answer is six."

Soujouji growled, eyes flitting angrily from the dice and back to Yuugi. "This game is rigged."

"I promise you that it isn't," Yuugi said. "Even if I wanted to cheat, the Game wouldn't—"

"CUT THE CRAP!" Soujouji shouted, causing Yuugi to jerk back in surprise. Jounouchi did not like the way things were headed. "For all we know you could just be making up numbers. It's not like we'd know any different."

"Hey, man," Jounouchi interjected, earning a sharp glare from Soujouji. "Yuugi's a good guy. If he says the game is fair, it's fair."

"And we're just supposed to trust the guy who's using a fake name?" Soujouji's glare shifted back to Yuugi. "Are you forgetting we go to the same school, Yami? What's your angle?"

"No angle," Yuugi shook his head. "I just want to ensure justice—"

"You know what, forget it," Soujouji said as he pushed himself onto his feet. Jounouchi tensed as he sensed the altercation that loomed as ominously as Soujouji. "This is stupid."

"Are you forfeiting?" Yuugi asked, his voice betraying fear. "If you back out now, you'll—"

The kick was sharp and swift as Soujouji's foot slammed into Yuugi's chest, knocking the breath out of Yuugi's lungs. Jounouchi sprang into action, ready to clobber Soujouji except for the hand gripping his wrist.

He paused and looked down at Yuugi, who stared up at him with three eyes and shook his head minutely before turning to stare at a now-much-less-confident Soujouji.

"The Door of Darkness has been opened," Yuugi said in a voice that was too calm given the context. It sent a shiver down Jounouchi's spine. "Illusion of Echoes."

"What the—" Soujouji said, before his voice cut off into a shout as he held his own head in his hands. His cries grew so loud and pained that it made Jounouchi sick.

"You tortured people with your voice," Yuugi continued in that chilling tone. "Until you can learn to listen more than you speak, your voice will cause you agony."

"W-What the hell are you?" the director asked with his voice trembling, and hey, Jounouchi almost forgot he was there… along with the camera guy who seemed to be frozen in fear with his camera trained on them. That was not good.

"Are we going to finish this game?" Yuugi asked, all playfulness gone. "Or are you going to forfeit as well?"

The director leapt to his feet and took off running.

Yuugi sighed and closed his eyes sadly. "Illusion of Mosaic."

The director had barely made it five steps before he stumbled and looked wildly around. His gaze finally settled back in their general direction, but not truly looking at them.

"Wha-" the director gasped, his hand covering his horrified face. "Everything is a mosaic."

"You twisted reality in front of the camera to suit your own needs," Yuugi said. "Therefore, you will see the world through the filter of a mosaic."

Seeing his boss fall to his feet in despair must have snapped the camera guy out of whatever trance he was in because he took off running.

 _Oh no you don't_ , thought Jounouchi as he gave chase. The camera guy was deceptively fast, but Jounouchi was faster. He grabbed the camera guy by he shirt and pulled back. As the camera guy fell, Jounouchi grabbed the surprisingly heavy camera out of his hands. After some fiddling, he managed to take out the tape.

"There," Jounouchi said, handing the camera back to the trembling camera guy. "You might not want to tell anyone what happened here."

The camera guy nodded furiously and scrambled for his feet. As the camera guy booked it out of there, Jounouchi grinned, flipped the tape once in the air, and caught it deftly in one hand.

Yuugi had already gathered up all the dice and was wearing Yami's backpack. The glowing eye has since dissipated from Yuugi's forehead, leaving him looking like his usual unassuming self, albeit a little disappointed as he looked out at the two men he'd cursed. The director hadn't yet moved from where he had fallen, and Soujouji quivered and flinched with every sound he made.

Jounouchi met Yuugi's gaze and gestured toward the corner of the school. "Let's get out of here before someone catches us and starts asking questions."

"Oh," Yuugi blinked up at him in surprise, as though broken from a trance. "Uh, okay."

Jounouchi lead Yuugi around the corner toward the front of the school. He felt a little guilty about leaving the two men alone like that, but they would probably be fine once they regained their bearings. In the meantime, Jounouchi and Yuugi walked in silence until they reached the sidewalk and Jounouchi couldn't stand it anymore.

"Man," Jounouchi huffed, shaking his head. "I forgot how terrifying you could be."

"I scare you?" Yuugi said and his already large eyes widened as his face paled. "I-I'm sorry. I'm not- I don't mean to-"

"Oh, man, no," Jounouchi assured quickly. "It's not that. I mean, yea, it's terrifying what you can do and I don't know if I'll ever get used to… all of that."

Yuugi hung his head, his eyes unusually bright.

"But," Jounouchi conceded and Yuugi perked up. "They're bad guys. I mean, they were going to hurt that Hanasaki kid if you hadn't stopped them. I mean, they were going to hurt him a lot worse. Hell, they were going to hurt _you_ if you'd lost," Jounouchi said, suddenly and bitterly remembering the start of the Shadow Game. "Which reminds me. What the hell was that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," Jounouchi snapped. "You bet your safety on a game! What would have happened if you'd lost?"

Yuugi furrowed his brow as though the thought hadn't really occurred to him. Maybe it hadn't. "They probably would have beaten me up."

"And you'd have been okay with that?" Jounouchi asked incredulously.

"They didn't get to," Yuugi shrugged. "I won. Even if I didn't, I like to think they would have proved me wrong."

Jounouchi could have argued, but it just seemed futile in the face of Yuugi's impossibly confident naivety. He huffed and decided to let it go. For now.

"So uh," Jounouchi shrugged. "Why haven't I seen you the past couple weeks? I mean," Jounouchi tried to backtrack. God, he'd sounded so embarrassing. "You got all excited about being friends, and then I didn't hear from you. I started to you changed your mind."

"No!" Yuugi interjected. "No, sorry. Please don't think that. I want to be friends it's just that… I don't know what's going on. This, all of this, is just all so new and I'm not really sure what I'm doing."

Jounouchi suppressed a shudder. The idea that Yuugi was so powerful yet woefully unequipped to handle that power was something he definitely didn't want to dwell on.

"Apart from you the only person I really know is Yami, and it's not like I know how or even if I can talk to him." Yuugi gently cradling the puzzle in one hand, "I'm not even sure what he would do if he knew I was here."

Jounouchi glanced down at the puzzle. What would Yami do if he found out Yuugi existed? It was very clear that right now he had no idea, and Jounouchi wasn't about to try to convince him without proof. Yami already thought he was wacked out enough already.

Now Jounouchi started thinking about what would happen if Yami did believe him. Would he get angry? Scared? Would he get rid of the puzzle? Would that get rid of Yuugi? Sure, Jounouchi didn't really know the guy, but the idea of something bad happening to him just didn't sit right with him.

Yuugi continued, "I guess it's just difficult to find a balance between being Yami and being me"

"Is that why you only came out when Yami was hurt?"

"I couldn't just stand by and let him suffer," Yuugi said fiddled absentmindedly with the straps of his backpack. "Not when I could do something to stop it."

"Then you should be rewarded for your heroism," Jounouchi said, earning him a strange look. "I think you've earned yourself an hour or two for yourself today. Wanna head to the arcade?"

"Are you sure?" Yuugi seemed hesitant despite the hope in his eyes.

"Why not?" Jounouchi shrugged.

"Well, maybe just for a game or two," Yuugi smiled brightly as his voice adopted a teasing tone. "No shadows this time, I promise."

"Awesome," Jounouchi laughed, clapping Yuugi on the shoulder. "But before we go, I just want to do one thing."

-Line-

Yami woke up with a start. It took his a moment to realize he was in his room and that the sunlight shining in through his window was at a much lower angle than it should have been. How in the hell had he gotten there?

Slowly, he sat up and his chest protested at his movements while his stiff neck ached. That wasn't a good sign. He raised his hand to the spot where the director's fist had made contact to find the skin tender and hypersensitive under his touch.

He stood to his feet, relieved not to be met by a wave of nausea, and walked on steady feet out the open bedroom door, down the hall, and to the bathroom. He flicked the light switch and took a look at himself in the mirror.

Apart from his new injuries, he looked fine. The bruise on his cheek wasn't nearly as bad as he'd been expecting, and the rest of his face was otherwise unblemished. Carefully he undid the buttons on his shirt and opened it to reveal a large bruise that looked suspiciously like a footprint. How had he managed to miss getting that?

He debated going to the hospital, but he felt fine. A little knocked around and freaked out from the second episode of memory loss in as many weeks, but otherwise okay. They'd probably just send him home anyway.

After cleaning his face, he flicked off the lights and made his way to the kitchen. From the sound of things, his grandfather was still downstairs cleaning up the shop, for which Yami was thankful. He didn't want to have to face him looking like this, especially if he found out Yami had a lapse in his memory. That would only encourage his 'secret knowledge' strangeness.

Upon entering the kitchen, Yami saw there was a note on the fridge for him written in his grandfather's penmanship.

 _Yami –_

 _Dinner is ready in the fridge for you._

 _Grandpa_

Yami opened the fridge to find a bowl of katsudon waiting for him. He knew it was late, but he hadn't thought he'd miss dinner entirely. The bowl was still warm, but could stand to be heated.

After he'd started microwaving the katsudon, he leaned back against the counter and thought about how it was actually a very fitting meal to eat after his victory today. Jounouchi hadn't been able to figure out the rules to his game, and with any luck he'd honour their agreement and leave Yami alone. At least one good thing came out of all that mess.

He stuck his hands in his jacket pockets out of habit, only to be surprised to find something in one. Curious, he pulled out a piece of lined notebook paper that had been folded over twice, and opened it. His jaw went slack with shock. Stark against the white paper were written the correct rules to the game, complete with five example rounds, in Jounouchi's handwriting.

The microwave beeped, and the light of the setting sun streamed in through the window and reflected off the puzzle around his neck. Yami could only think one thing.

"Oh fuck."


	3. Chapter 3

"Officer Yamashita down! Prisoner 777 has escaped and is in possession of Yamashita's gun! Last seen headed for Domino City! Our first priority is to alert the townspeople! I repeat. Prisoner 777 has escaped! He is armed and dangerous!"

"Yo, Jounouchi!" Honda clapped his friend on the shoulder, having finally caught up with him in the school hallway. "You doing anything today?"

"Hey man," Jounouchi grinned. "Yea, I uh, I've got plans with Yu- uh, with Yami actually."

"Oh," Honda took his hand back. "You're still doing that?"

Jounouchi looked at Honda in a way that told him that some of his irritation had leaked into his voice. "Yeah, I'm still doing that. Why, you got a problem with it?"

"No, dude," Honda shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You can do what you want. I mean, it's weird, but whatever."

"Come on, he's not a bad guy," Jounouchi insisted. When Honda snorted his disbelief, though, Jounouchi wavered. "He's just a little… much."

"Doesn't seem like much of anything," Honda muttered.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Come on, the guy is a bowl of oatmeal with a few sarcastic comments mixed in. What do you guys even talk about?"

"Dude, relax," Jounouchi smirked, holding his hand up to block Honda's path. "You don't need to be jealous. You know you're the only girl for me."

"Ugh, gross. Come on, don't make this weird."

"You're the one acting like a jealous girlfriend." Jounouchi held up his hands defensively. "Can you really blame me?"

"Guess I walked into it," Honda huffed a laugh, letting his irritation slide. "Not that it matters. I would never be the jealous girlfriend. I'm _way_ out of your league."

"Oh please, you wish you could get with something this fine," Jounouchi gestured down the length of his body and Honda grimaced. "But enough with the sweet talk. I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry. Catch you later?"

"Yeah, man. See you."

Jounouchi flashed a grin before rushing off down the hall. Honda shook his head and made his own way out of the building. It was when he was crossing the schoolyard that he noticed Yami walking ahead of him, a book in his hand. Whatever urgency Jounouchi had been feeling about their meeting, it was clear that it wasn't mutual.

"Yami!"

Honda's exclamation stopped Yami in his tracks. As Honda drew even with him, Yami closed his book (some kind of game manual?) and leveled Honda with a glare.

"What do you want?"

Honda took a breath to calm his rising hackles. There was no sense in letting this escalate. "I just want to talk."

"About?"

"Look, I don't know hat game you're playing, but you better watch yourself."

"You're going to have to be more specific," Yami smirked, holding up his book pointedly. "I do play a lot of games after all."

"Cut the shit," Honda snapped, taking a small pleasure in the way Yami jerked with surprise. "Jounouchi's a good guy and for some reason he thinks you might be too. Just—he's giving you a chance. Unless you make yourself worth his time, then you should leave him alone."

Yami shrugged and continued walking. Apparently their conversation was over.

"What that's it?" Honda called after him. "You're just not going to say anything?"

"Do I need to?" Yami called back and he rounded the school gate. Light glinted off the gaudy puzzle Yami had insisted on wearing and he took off running, but not before shooting Honda an almost apologetic smile.

What a dick.

-Line-

Jounouchi hummed as he considered his next move. He was in a tight spot, sure, but he could still win this if he was smart. All he needed to do was find an opportunity. Just one shot and he'd have it all. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. This was it.

"B-2."

"Miss!"

 _Shit,_ Jounouchi thought as he stuck a white peg on the spot he'd targeted. He still had one more ship. If Yuugi missed this next one, he just might—

"G-4."

 _Dammit!_

"It's a hit," Jounouchi sighed as he leaned back in his seat on the park bench they were sat at, prompting Yuugi to cheer. "That was close, though. Almost beat you this time."

Yuugi laughed and ran his hand down the upright portion of his board, causing the pegs to fall and clatter against the plastic below. "Almost. I just got really lucky at the end. If you had said B-3, you'd have sunk my last ship."

"What!?" Jounouchi stood up and circled around to Yuugi's side to see Yuugi's last ship exactly as described. Jounouchi huffed a sigh. "It's always the small ones. Damn."

"You want to play again?" Yuugi asked, his eyes alight with excitement. "Or if you'd like to play something else, I brought playing cards and a few other games. I've even got Travel Scrabble."

Jounouchi huffed a laugh and stretched his arms over his head, noting how low in the sky the sun had already become since they met after school. He checked his watch and confirmed it was already way later than he'd been planning to stay out. Man, his dad was going to be pissed.

"Sorry Yuugi. I think it's time we pack it in for the night. I've gotta get up early, so I should go home now unless I want to be a zombie tomorrow."

"Oh, okay," Yuugi said, his voice betraying his disappointment despite his obvious attempt to hide it as he started packing up the game into his backpack. "We've got homework to do anyway, so we- well, I should probably get back to the game shop."

"Are you okay?"

"Huh? Yea, I'm fine!" Yuugi smiled, standing up and slingon on his fully packed backpack. "So if today's Thursday, maybe sometime after next Friday we meet up again?"

"Ugh, that's so far," Jounouchi groaned.

"It's not _that_ far," Yuugi shrugged. "You know why I can't come out to play more."

"I know, I know," Jounouchi sighed as they started walking out of the park. "It just sucks sometimes that we can't just hang out whenever."

"I'm sor—"

"Don't be, it's not your fault," Jounouchi mussed up Yuugi's hair, grinning at Yuugi's indignant squawk. "It just sucks sometimes is all."

They continued walking out of the park and down the street. After a while, Yuugi spoke again.

"I know this isn't what you had in mind when you agreed to be my friend. If I'm being honest, I hadn't thought much about it when I first asked to be friends. I was just so glad to not be alone anymore."

"Oh," Jounouchi said for a lack of a better response.

"I'm glad we're friends though," Yuugi smiled up at him. "Even if we don't see each other that often."

"Yea," Jounouchi smiled back. "I'm glad we're friends too. Even if I do have to put up with Yami when you're gone."

"Please don't talk like that!"

"Okay," Jounouchi held up his hands. "You're right. Sorry, I know you're protective of the guy."

"Well, yea," Yuugi nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "I had nothing before him. We're… he's part of me. Or I'm part of him. Either way, he's important to me."

"Now I feel kind of bad for joking about him like that."

"It's okay! I know you're trying to get along with him."

"Yea, I'm trying," Jounouchi nodded, "but it's not exactly like it's easy to be friends with him. No offense, but he's not exactly the warmest person."

"He does tend to put up a wall," Yuugi allowed, "but he appreciates your friendship more than he lets on."

"How do you know?"

"I may not know his thoughts exactly, but I know his heart. Trust me, he's glad you're friends too."

"I'll take your word for it," Jounouchi smiled.

"You don't believe me?" Yuugi said in mock disbelief. "I'm hurt!"

"Of course I believe you, buddy," Jounouchi caught Yuugi in a good-natured headlock. "Big innocent eyes like yours? I can't see you doing anything as bad as lying."

"I don't think I'll be able to do much of anything if you keep choking me like this."

"Sorry."

-Line-

"You really don't give up do you?" Yami asked as Jounouchi slowed to match his steps. For the past week or so, Jounouchi had made it a habit to meet Yami at the bus stop and walk the last stretch to school with him.

Yami wasn't sure how much he liked this. He enjoyed the usual quiet of his morning routine. It was familiar and gave him time to reflect on his thoughts in a way that he only could do when everything was fresh and free of the clutter that tends to happen over the course of a day. Having Jounouchi fill that all in with nonsense Yami couldn't care less about was grating.

"Nope!" Jounouchi said cheerfully. "You're stuck with me until I win you over."

"And then you'll leave me alone?" Yami asked. "I hope."

Jounouchi laughed and hooked an arm around Yami's shoulders. "Not a chance!"

"Great," Yami rolled his eyes and shrugged out from under Jounouchi's arm and kept walking, Jounouchi following. "I have to hand it to you. I didn't think you could find a way to get more annoying than you were before. Kudos."

"I know you don't really think that," Jounouchi smirked. "Something tells me there's a part of you that's very glad we're friends."

 _Not likely_ , Yami thought as he ignored the way Jounouchi's tone made his words sound like a punch line. "If you say so."

"I'm just saying, there's a reason you haven't stuck to your guns and told me to piss off. I'm just too charismatic and likeable."

"I think the reason you're looking for is 'lost a bet'," Yami said, smiling despite himself. Jounouchi looked far too pleased at that. "Besides, I figure you'll get bored eventually."

Jounouchi's smile gave way to bemusement. "What do you mean?"

"I said what I mean. All I have to do is outlast you and let's face it; I have more experience putting up with you than you do trying to be nice to me. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I haven't forgotten how much of a jerk you were before."

Jounouchi went quiet and as they continued their trek to class in silence, Yami wondered if he should feel bad about what he'd said.

-Line-

"Oh joy, it's you," Anzu drawled as Jounouchi and Yami walked into the classroom. Jounouchi suppressed a groan. He was really not in the headspace to deal with her disdain at the moment. Despite his restraint, he couldn't stop the annoyed huff that escaped him.

"Really, can't a guy turn over a new leaf without everyone making a big deal of it?"

"Sure they can," Anzu uncrossed her arms and curled her hands around the edge of the desk. "Unless it's you. Call me crazy—"

"Crazy," Jounouchi muttered.

"—but there's something I don't trust about you. You've never shown any interest in being Yami's friend before now. He certainly doesn't seem too eager to reciprocate whatever this is, so I feel totally justified is asking 'what the hell'. Why the change of heart?"

"None of your business." Jounouchi shoved his hands deep into his pockets. "I saw the error of my ways and that's that."

"Forgive me for being skeptical," Anzu challenged. "Until I know for sure you're not planning anything to hurt Yami in any way, I've decided not to trust you as far as I can throw you."

Jounouchi ground his teeth in frustration and Yami gave Anzu a soft reprimand. He had to get out of there. With a quick assurance that he would be right back, he stormed out of the classroom and didn't stop walking until he was standing in from of the mirror in the men's washroom, gripping the sides of the sink.

 _Damn,_ Jounouchi thought with irritation as he gripped the side of the sink for support. All he was trying to do was keep a promise he made to a friend and here she was treating him like a huge jerk. Why couldn't she just accept that things were different now? That _he_ was different now?

 _Then again,_ Jounouchi considered _, it's not like she could know that. Hell, if someone who had treated Honda like shit suddenly wanted to be his friend, I'd be suspicious too_.

It didn't really help that Yami thought so little of him. He knew the guy wouldn't suddenly be all buddy-buddy and him agreeing to be friends wouldn't change that much, but he thought he would at least see Jounouchi was trying. That he was doing better, being better. Yuugi could see it, why couldn't he?

"You okay?"

The sound of Honda's voice drew Jounouchi from his spiraling and he looked up to see his friend hovering at his shoulder.

"Stalking me into the can?"

"More like saw you walk in looking all pissed off and got concerned," Honda clarified. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Honda asked, resting a hand on Jounouchi's shoulder. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"I know," Jounouchi smiled. "You're a good friend, but you don't have to worry. It's nothing I can't take care of myself."

"Don't be an idiot, of course I'm going to worry about you. You've been acting really weird and distant lately. I mean, we haven't even had lunch together in weeks because you've been so busy bothering Yami."

 _Damn._

"I guess I have been a little preoccupied lately," Jounouchi looked away. He hadn't meant to let this whole Yami-Yuugi thing take up all his time, but between that, his job, and schoolwork he supposed he let Honda fall through the cracks. "Sorry about that, man. Why don't we have lunch together today?"

"Sounds good to me," Honda smiled and Jounouchi felt a little better.

"If you want," Jounouchi continued. "Maybe we could go rent a movie or something after school?"

"Not tonight," Honda shook his head. "My sister and her husband are going to a work event so they need me to watch their brat. How about—"

The bathroom door opened and Yami poked his head in, ending Jounouchi and Honda's conversation.

"What do you want?" Honda cast him a glare. His tone seemed almost mocking.

"Jounouchi, class is starting soon," Yami said, steadfastly ignoring Honda. "Are you okay to come back or are you gonna stay here all morning?"

"Uh," Jounouchi responded, briefly meeting Honda's confused gaze before looking back at Yami. "No, I'll be right there."

"Cool," Yami nodded and turned to leave before stopping like he remembered something. "Also, Anzu invited me to lunch today with her and Miho. Are you good if I join, or do we have plans?"

"Oh," Jounouchi said, never expecting that Yami would actually ask like that like a normal person. "No, it's good. I have plans with Honda today."

"Good. I'll see you in class." With that, Yami closed the door and left.

"What a dick," Honda said, and Jounouchi found he really couldn't entirely disagree.

-Line-

"So Jounouchi let you off the hook for lunch, huh?" Anzu teased as Yami sat down on the grass next to her outside the school. She and Miho had a habit of eating outside when the weather was nice. Well, mostly when the weather was nice. Jounouchi's presence inspired more of these outdoor outings in the past few weeks.

"He's with Honda today," Yami shrugged. "With any luck, he'll be able to talk some sense into him and Jou will leave me alone from now on."

"Are you sure you want that?" Miho asked, casting Anzu a fleeting glance before continuing. "He seems to be growing on you."

"Like a tumor," Yami deadpanned and Anzu snickered. Yami cast a smirk her way and leaned back a bit, supporting himself with his hands. "I don't know. He's been pretty cool lately, but I figured he'd get bored by now."

"Would that be so bad?" Anzu asked.

Yami thought about that. Annoying as he was, over the past few weeks he grew accustomed to Jounouchi's presence. He still kind of hated the guy, but at least he was consistent. Of course, there was something that prickled at the back of his mind. Something just out of reach and Anzu's claim that he was hiding something seemed to gain credence over time. Maybe it was something he should keep an eye on, just in case.

That, with the increased frequency of his memory loss, made him wary.

"Hey," Anzu's voice, concerned and tentative, brought him from his thoughts. "Everything okay?"

"Yea," Yami sat up properly again and opened his lunch box. "I'm just done talking about Jounouchi for now. He occupies more than enough of my life already."

"Oh, uh, okay," Anzu said and went back to poking at the contents of her bento box with her chopsticks, before digging in. After a few moments, Miho spoke.

"Hey, um, Anzu," she shifted in her seat. "I was thinking of going window shopping today after library committee. Would you want to come with me? We could stop by that new burger place and see if it's any good."

"No!" Anzu said, then cleared her throat when both Miho and Yami startled. "Sorry, I promised my parents I'd run errands tonight. Besides I heard that burger place isn't any good. Apparently a ton of people got sick right after it opened."

"Oh," Miho blinked. "Thanks for the warning."

Anzu smiled. "I'm free Thursday after school if you want to do something then."

"Thursday sounds good," Miho said with excitement. "I can always see if any of the girls from the committee want to hang out today." Miho seemed to catch herself and turned to Yami. "And of course, you're welcome to come along as well!"

That was a surprise. Yami had always thought of Miho as Anzu's friend, and had certainly never thought she tolerated him enough to invite him on an outing. Still, he shook his head with a smile, "Thanks, but I can't think of anything worse than window shopping."

"Don't trash our hobbies just because you don't like them. It's rude," Anzu reprimanded, a teasing smile growing. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that all this time with Jounouchi is getting to you."

"Why would you say such hurtful things?"

Anzu stuck out her tongue.

-Line-

Jounouchi didn't have many quiet lunches when he was with Honda. If they weren't talking or laughing, they were getting up to mischief and causing trouble. Eating somehow didn't factor into lunch for them.

Today though, Honda was silent and awkward across the table in the lunchroom. He kept taking in a breath as if to speak and avoided meeting Jounouchi's gaze, and it was pissing Jounouchi off. Finally, Jounouchi took a sip of cola and leveled Honda with a stern look.

"Alright, you've obviously got something to say, so spit it out already."

"Okay," Honda nodded, and folded his hands on the table. Jounouchi knew him long enough to know that he was steeling up to ask what the hell was going on. "First of all, what the hell?"

 _There it is._

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jounouchi shrugged. "We're just having lunch."

"Cut the crap, Jounouchi. You and I both know you know what I'm talking about, so rather than act like an idiot and waste my time, why don't you tell me what the hell you're doing following Yami around like a baby duck?"

"Considering we're in the same class, can it really be considered 'following him around'?" Jounouchi leaned back in his seat and toyed with the tab of his cola can. "And I'm not a duck, much less a baby one."

"You know what I mean," Honda said, his tone and his eyes shifting from annoyance toward concern. "I'm worried about you, dude."

"Why would you be worried? I keep telling you that nothing's wrong."

"This isn't like you," Honda urged. "You're acting really weird and I didn't say anything at first because I thought you'd snap out of it or get tired of putting in the effort for something that's clearly not worth it, but it's been over a month. Why are you so set on hanging around a guy like that who clearly wants nothing to do with you?"

Jounouchi shifted his weight and found it difficult to look Honda in the eye. He couldn't tell Honda about everything that went down the night Yami solved the puzzle without sounding like a crazy person, but he couldn't exactly lie to his oldest friend either. Before he could say anything, Honda caught Jounouchi's gaze again.

"You know you can tell me anything, right? I'm not here to judge you or piss you off. I just want to know that you're okay."

"I'm fine," Jounouchi said, fighting off frustration. Why couldn't Honda just drop this? "Really, I just… I'm fine."

"Is this about what happened with Ushio?"

"What?" Jounouchi started and nearly tipped over his drink. _How the hell did he know about that night?_

"Look, man, I get it," Honda continued. "It really sucked having the crap kicked out of us by one guy, and Yami standing up to him was pretty cool. Not everyone would do that for a couple of jerks like us and I can respect that."

Jounouchi nodded and crossed his arms, finding himself weirdly disappointed that this was the Ushio thing Honda was talking about. If he could have figured it all out himself, Jounouchi wouldn't have to worry about looking like a crazy person if they talked about it. Or worse, looking like a stupid one.

"But walking around and acting like his friend isn't the way to thank him for his one shining moment. I thought maybe once the moment wore off and you realized that he's still the same stuck up jerk he always was, you would come to your senses and back off."

"I get that you're worried, I really do, but you really don't have to be," Jounouchi uncrossed his arms to the back of his neck awkwardly. It was getting harder to keep his frustration under control. "Yami's actually a pretty down to earth guy once you get past all the sarcasm and silent glares. I really think that deep, very deep down there's someone in there who wants someone to reach out to him."

It wasn't a lie. There was someone in there that wanted to be friends, just not the way Honda probably thought.

Honda scoffed, but Jounouchi continued. "Really, I'm fine. Everything is fine."

"It doesn't look fine," Honda took his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. "You're spouting nonsense and I've heard the way he talks to you. He's so, ugh! He's a jerk! How is any of that fine?"

"It just is! You—shit. You don't have the full story."

"Then tell me!"

"It's not that simple."

"You can form words, can't you?"

"Yea, but—"

"Then use them! I'm here to help you Jou, but I can't do that if you don't let me in. Shit, man, I just want to make sure you're okay!"

"I'm fine!" Jounouchi snapped, rocketing to his feet and slamming his hands on the table. "I can look after myself and I don't need you hovering over me like a mother hen. So knock it off before I knock you out!"

Honda started, and the expression on his face looked more hurt than if Jounouchi had actually clocked him. _Shit_.

"Honda," Jounouchi said with exasperation, and if he was being honest, a little guilt. Okay, a lot of guilt. "I'm sorry. I really am, but can't get into this now. I hope I'll be able to soon, but for now you'll just have to trust me."

Honda stared at him for a while as though he were looking for something. Finally, he nodded, his jaw tense. "Fine. I'll trust you."

Relief flooded over Jounouchi, "Thanks, man."

"Don't sweat it," Honda shrugged and calmly gathering his things as he stood up. "I just hope that one day you'll return the favour." Without another word or waiting for a response, Honda walked past Jounouchi and out of the room.

Everyone was staring at Jounouchi.

He groaned and pinched his nose. _Great._ This was so not the way Jounouchi wanted his day to go. He was trying to do the right thing, he really was. It was just so hard when everyone wrote him off as some jerk that was up to no good or some moron who couldn't make decisions for himself. He got enough of that at home. He didn't need that shit now.

He took a moment to collect himself before gathering his own things and make his way out of the lunch room. It was nearly time for class anyway.

Maybe Honda had a point, even if he didn't have all the facts. After all, Yami may have been holding up his end of the bargain and at least being open to the idea of them being friends, but it still felt like an uphill battle, even with Yuugi's assurances. Besides, Jounouchi had made the promise for friendship to Yuugi, not Yami. At this point he was almost completely sure that they were entirely different people. Technically, he didn't owe Yami anything.

"Yo."

Jounouchi looked up to see Yami standing outside the doors Jounouchi had just walked through.

"Hey," Jounouchi stopped in his tracks, pretending that he hadn't been startled by Yami's sudden appearance. By the look in Yami's eyes, he wasn't very convincing. "I thought you were having lunch with the girls."

"I was, but I figured I'd make a detour going back so that we could walk back to class together."

Jounouchi responded by eloquently gaping in disbelief at this turn of events. He must have looked ridiculous, because Yami actually grinned. "You were waiting for me?"

"I did promise to give this friendship thing a try," Yami's face slipped back into its usual unaffected mask as he shrugged. "Friends are supposed to wait for each other, aren't they?"

"Uh, yea," Jounouchi nodded. "Yea, they do. Thanks, man."

Yami nodded his acknowledgment before turning on his heel and walking off in the direction of their classroom. Jounouchi shook his head and huffed a laugh. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to Yami's abrupt nature, but at least he was trying. Maybe they could actually be friends.

"Hey Yami, are you doing anything after school?"

"There's the anything worse," Yami muttered before speaking to Jounouchi directly. "No and I'd like to keep it that way if it's all the same to you."

"Come on, we could go to the arcade, or go out for burgers, or—"

Yami stopped in his tracks. "Burgers, you say?"

-Line-

"Who knew the way to win you over was through burgers?" Jounouchi gave Yami a teasing elbow as they made their way toward Burger World.

"I'm already regretting this decision," Yami said, though his annoyance seemed half-hearted. Hey, progress was progress as far as Jounouchi was concerned. "Are we sure we should be going to Burger World? Anzu said that a lot of people had gotten sick eating there, and there's that convict school was warning us about."

"I haven't heard of anyone getting sick. Those are probably just isolated cases," Jounouchi waved a hand. "As for the convict, Domino is a big city. What are the odds that he's going to show up at a little burger place?"

"That's true," Yami agreed.

"Exactly," Jounouchi continued as they approached the automatic doors of Burger World. "We have a better chance of running into Anzu than we do running into the convict."

"Hellooo, and welcome!" Anzu said in a peppy customer service voice, nearly giving Jounouchi a heart attack. "I'll seat you in—uh…"

Jounouchi and Yami stared at Anzu as she stared back. For a while, no one said anything.

"Uh," Yami blinked for an apparent lack of anything else to do. "Anzu?"

Anzu, to her credit, maintained her composure quite well by backing up slowly until she was so deep into the restaurant that she was out of sight. What was she doing here greeting customers anyway? Was she wearing a Burger World uniform? Part time jobs were against the rules for most students.

"Uh…" Jounouchi said, unsure what he was supposed to do. "I guess we just find out own seats?"

"I guess," Yami said, following Jounouchi into a booth a few rows down from the door. "Did you know Anzu was working here?"

"No, I didn't have a clue," Jounouchi answered honestly. "If I did I would have suggested somewhere else."

Yami nodded and leaned back in his seat. "Jou, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Why are you doing this? "

"I'm not sure what you—"

"Stop screwing around, Jounouchi," Yami said sternly. "You know what I'm asking. Why this new interest in being friends?"

Jounouchi looked down at the table. He really didn't want to be having this conversation.

"Do you even have an answer?"

"I do, it's just… I realized that I've been kind of a dick to you, probably more than you deserved. You can be a pretty cool guy sometimes, and I guess I decided it was time I recognized that."

Yami didn't seem to know how to respond to that so the two fell into the age-old tradition of very obviously ignoring each other until one of them thought of something to say to steer the conversation as far away from that touchy-feely stuff as possible. Jounouchi crossed his arms and uncrossed them, clearing his throat. He was about to ask where Anzu was with the menus when a tray with two burgers and soft drinks slammed on the table in front of them.

"I guess we know what kind of burgers we're getting," Jounouchi said as Anzu glared.

"Enjoy," she said, ignoring Jounouchi's comment and squirting ketchup all over the burgers. "And please have plenty of our famous ketchup." When she was finished, the boys read the message she'd written.

'Tell on me and I'll kill you.'

"Shit, Mazaki, what the hell?" Jounouchi asked.

Anzu harrumphed and started walking away, only to be stopped when Yami said her name. She sighed and turned around.

"This is my part time job. I know it's not allowed, but I need the money. After graduation I—" she glanced nervously at Yami "—I'm going to America to study dance in New York."

"America?" Yami and Jounouchi asked.

"Yea, New York. Julliard is my first choice. I know the acceptance rate is scarily low so it will be next to impossible to get in, but it's my dream and I have to at least try. Don't laugh!"

"I would never laugh at you for following your dream," Yami assured and Anzu's cheeks turned pink. "Neither will Jounouchi unless he wants me to kick him under the table. Repeatedly."

"You don't have to worry about that," Jounouchi shook his head. "I think it's pretty cool of you, actually. Not many people would have that kind of courage. I promise, we won't tell a soul."

"Oh," Anzu's brow drew together as she assessed him. "Thanks. That's… cool of you, actually."

"That said," Jounouchi smiled, "there's no way we're paying for these soggy burgers. You ruined them with all this ketchup."

Anzu rolled her eyes and walked away. "Don't worry! They're on the house."

Well, as long as they were free Jounouchi could stomach over-ketchuped burgers. He grabbed one of the burgers and took a bite, stopping only when he looked up to see Yami looking at him like he had two heads.

"What?" Jounouchi asked around a mouthful of burger.

Yami blinked, then shook his head. "First you leave the grossest looking burger to me, and then you speak with your mouth full. Where are your manners?"

"Sorry, Your Highness," Jounouchi grinned, swallowing before taking another, even larger bite of his burger. "Must have left them at home."

Yami snickered and grabbed his own burger, careful to avoid the most ketchup-drenched parts of the bun. He'd barely raised the burger to his mouth when the escaped convict stormed in and captured Anzu.

-Line-

As the convict tied a cloth over her eyes, his long fingernails scratching her scalp and his too hot taunts creeping over her skin, Anzu tried to keep herself from panicking. The convict hadn't been lying when he said that losing your sight made you even more frightened. The only thing worse than seeing that gun was _not_ seeing it.

All she had wanted to do was dance on Broadway. Ever since her aunt took her to see The Lion King, she fell in love with the stage. The lights. The music. She knew her life purpose was to capture that magic in her movements and share it with the world. Would it really end here? Would her dream be ripped away from her by this maniac?

She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"Now then," the convict said and he shoved her roughly into one of the booths. She didn't have to see to know where he was pointing the gun. "Bring me whatever I want and when I'm done, I'll be on my way!" The restaurant was silent now, all the terrified screams from the convicts entrance gone. The convict made a deliberating sound in his throat.

"Alright," he said in a voice that was far too self-satisfied. "Everyone down on the ground, except you. Angry goth wannabe. Bring me some booze and smokes. Lucky stripes. And only that brand or you'll be going home without a face."

As the restaurant went quiet again, except for someone whispering that they had Lucky Stripes, Anzu made a tally of everyone in the restaurant. Who else was there? There was a bald guy, a man who looked like a college professor, a woman in a pink shirt, a businessman, a guy in jean overalls, two girls from another school, the rest of the staff, and Jounouchi and Yami. Her heart pounded when she came to the conclusion that none of those people could possible fit the description of 'angry goth' except—

"Yami!" she shouted. "Yami, please, get out of here before you get hurt!"

Her face burned with the ferocity of the slap that struck her cheek as the convict yelled at her to shut up. There was the sound of something being set on the table in front of them.

"Mind if I sit here?"

 _Who is that?_ Anzu thought. The voice that spoke couldn't belong to Yami. They were similar, but where Yami's voice confident and smooth despite its edge, this voice was soft in a way that demanded to be heard. Despite its shyness, it felt commanding.

"What the- Did I say you could sit down!?"

Apparently the convict didn't agree.

"I thought you could use some company," the voice said. "It must have been so boring in prison. Why don't we play a game to make up for it?"

 _A game!?_ This guy had to be crazy to challenge a man with a gun to a game.

The convict laughed. "Sure, kid. Might as well make up for lost time."

"You should know, that this is no ordinary game," the voice said, warning clear. "The loser will suffer a Penalty Game. Or worse."

"Sounds boring, what are the rules?"

There was the sound of something being picked up off the table. The booze maybe?

"You and I must stay on opposite ends of the table, but we can interact. There's a catch though. We each choose one of our ten fingers, and the finger you choose is the only one you can move. Of course, whichever finger you choose will determine your path, and by extension, your fate.

"So, which finger do you choose?"

"Easy," the convict said, liquid sloshing as it was presumably poured into a glass. "My right index finger. The only one I need right now to end this."

"Okay," the voice said, sounding almost defeated. "In that case, I choose my right thumb."

Anzu's heart broke for this poor guy. He may be crazy, but that didn't mean he deserved to be shot to death by this monster holding her hostage.

"And what will you do once the game has begun?" the voice asked in that same defeated tone.

"I'll pull the trigger of course!"

"Of course. In that case, Game Start!"

"And now Game Over!"

 _Click!_

That wasn't a gun shot, Anzu realized. What was it?

"Huh? Oh, I guess I forgot to light my cigarette. Very well, as you last act before you die, use your thumb to light it for me."

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

"What the—"

"The recoil from your gun will only make the lighter fall, and you really don't want that to happen with that vodka spilling everywhere. Let's go, Anzu."

She felt someone take her hand and guide her away from the table, only for the convict to start screaming as the smell of burning fabric and more assaulted Anzu's nose.

She tried to remove the blindfold only for someone to grab her by her upper arms.

"Anzu, are you okay?"

"Jounouchi?" Anzu balked. "I—yea, yea, I'm fine."

"Thank god," Jounouchi sighed and let her go. "Now stay put until the police arrive. Come on, Yuugi!"

"Wait!" Anzu said, fumbling with the blindfold until it finally fell away from her eyes. "Where are you—"

The restaurant was in chaos as her fellow staff members tried to put out the fire consuming the still screaming man and customers stood in shock and morbid fascination. Jounouchi and Yami, however, were gone, leaving behind only one clue as to what happened.

 _Yuugi_.

-Line-

Jounouchi raced down the street, dragging Yuugi along by his wrist, and he was freaking the hell out. Yuugi had set a man on fire. _Yuugi_ had set a man on _fire._ That was never a thing he had thought would ever happen, but it did. His friend had set a man on fire!

When they'd gotten far enough away from the building that Jounouchi felt confident enough that they wouldn't be disturbed, he pulled Yuugi into an alley and slowed to a stop so they could catch their breath.

"Holy shit, that actually happened," Jounouchi huffed. "Are you okay?"

Yuugi didn't answer, and if Jounouchi was being honest, he didn't look like he'd be answering anything for a while. His face was so pale that he looked like he'd pass out any moment and his bottom lip was trembling in a way that betrayed just how shaken he was. The most concerning thing, however, were his eyes. They were so distant and unseeing that Jounouchi was half scared that no one was there anymore.

"Uh, Yuugi? Can you say something so I know you're there?"

"… You're hurting me."

"What? Oh—" Jounouchi let go of Yuugi's wrist "—shit, sorry about that. I didn't realize how tight I was squeezing. I just didn't want to lose you, y'know?"

"It's fine," Yuugi said with an unnerving detachment in his tone. He tenderly touched his wrist now that Jounouchi's hand was gone. "I'm okay."

"Are you sure? Because 'okay' is not a word I think describes you right now. What the hell happened back there?"

"I played a game."

"Yea, I get that," Jounouchi said, frustration seeping into his tone. "I also get that you could have been killed. He could have just shot you and been done with it! What were you thinking challenging a man with a gun to a game?"

"He had Anzu," Yuugi said, his voice starting to tremble. "He- he could have killed her. He could have killed all of us and he would have enjoyed it. I could see it in his eyes."

Yuugi's eyes were bright with the beginnings of tears and emotion flooding his previously shell shocked expression. Frustration dissipating, Jounouchi tried to rest a supportive hand on Yuugi's shoulder, only for Yuugi to pull back like he'd been burned.

"Yuugi?"

"None of this is fine," Yuugi continued, his body shaking. "I- I wanted it to be something he could learn from. His penalty should have been an illusion he could break just by learning from his mistakes and trying to be a better person. I gave him a choice, but he chose violence. I can't stand fighting and violence!"

"Whoa, hey, Yuugi," Jounouchi held up his hands in what he hoped was a calming gesture since physical contact was clearly out of the question for now. "It's okay, I understand! You did what you had to do."

"He was going to kill me," Yuugi shut his eyes tight and wrapped his arms around himself. "He was going to kill Yami. Then he lost and he was screaming. He was dangerous just- just like me."

"Hey, stop it," the edge to Jounouchi's tone startled Yuugi into opening his eyes. "Get that out of your head right now. You're nothing like that guy!"

"You know the things I can do," Yuugi said, averting his gaze. "You were even scared of me when we first met and you just saw me set a man on fire."

"I- That's different! I mean, yea, the fire was super messed up and very illegal, but he was a bad guy who was probably going to kill us. You said so yourself." Yuugi didn't look convinced. "Would you have tried to kill us?"

"No, but—"

"No buts! What you did was self-defense, and while I don't like that you were in danger or the way things went down, I'm sure you did the best you could. You're not a bad person for defending yourself."

Yuugi went quiet, eyes on the puzzle he was now cradling in his hands. All Jounouchi could do was hope that what he said had gotten through. Jounouchi checked to see if the coast was clear and then gestured back out into the street.

"Come on, we shouldn't be here."

Yuugi ran his thumb over one of the grooves in the puzzle but made no motion to follow. Jounouchi waved a hand in front of Yuugi's eyes and that seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he was in.

"You're right," Yuugi nodded. "Shouldn't be here. I should go."

"Go?" Jounouchi asked, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling settling in his stomach. "Uh, right. I guess it's about time to bring Yami back. I'll still see you next Friday though, right?"

Yuugi worried his bottom lip a moment, before giving a resigned nod. "Right."

"Yuugi!" Jounouchi had just a second to panic before Yuugi disappeared and Yami stood there in his place, glassy eyed and swaying on his feet. After a few blinks, he steadied himself and focused on Jounouchi.

"Jou?" Yami asked as he apparently regained his bearings and his gaze darted around the no doubt unfamiliar surroundings. "What happened? Where's the convict? Did he hurt Anzu? Where-"

"Whoa, slow down," Jounouchi said, reaching out to rest a hand on Yami's shoulder only to have him pull away just as violently as Yuugi had. Jounouchi held up his hands again, and Yami's shoulders relaxed slightly. "It's okay, she's safe."

"What the hell is going on?" Yami demanded, his eyes almost burning. "How did we get here from the restaurant?"

"Uh—" _crapcrapcrap, think of something, Jounouchi_ "—well, the thing is, uh… we walked?"

"Cut the crap, Jounouchi," Yami shouted, shocking Jounouchi enough that he took a step back. "You know damn well what I'm asking. I don't want games. I just want the truth. So tell me what the hell is going on. What happened at the restaurant?"

"I…" Jounouchi began, but unable to say anything more past the lump in his throat and the way his eyes were stinging. Come on, Jounouchi, _be a man._ "I can't say."

"You know what?" Yami said. "Fuck this. I've had enough of this stupid fake friendship. I filled the terms of the bet and now we can go our separate ways. Now stay the hell away from me."

Yami pushed past Jounouchi and took off down the street, leaving Jounouchi with nothing but loss. Somehow in the span of less than an hour, he'd lost two friends.

-Line-

Yami was still seething as Burger World came into view. He'd blacked out at the worst possible time and any suspicion he had that Jounouchi was hiding something had been confirmed. The fact that Jounouchi had the nerve to lie to him when he clearly knew what was going on—

A flash of pain crossed Yami's chest that faded almost as soon as he felt it. Had he imagined it?

He rested a hand on the puzzle, an action he'd found soothed his nerves ever since he solved the puzzle. Except today. Curiously, instead of the warm comfort he usually felt, his fingers met only a cold inertness. He stopped in his tracks and held the puzzle so that he could look into its eye. Something was different, and it felt wrong.

"Yami?"

Yami looked up to see Anzu standing in the doorway of the restaurant, the tears caught in her eyelashes glistening red and blue with the lights from the emergency service vehicles parked around the building.

"Anzu…"

At her name, the tears came full force and Anzu closed the distance between them as fast as her legs could carry her. Yami grunted as Anzu collided into him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and crying heavily into his hair.

"Yami," she gasped, holding onto his so tightly he thought she might break him, "I was so scared! I thought- I thought I—"

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Yami said, wrapping his arms around Anzu as her words dissolved into sobs. He rubbed circles on her back, his hands only stilling a moment when he saw paramedics carefully wheeling a gurney covered with a red-spotted white sheet out of the restaurant. He tried his best to ignore the fact that they didn't seem to move with much urgency.

Anzu choked on a breath and Yami focused his attention back on her.

"It's okay," he soothed as Anzu's breathing evened out. "Everything will be okay."


	4. Chapter 4

Yami kicked a rock along the sidewalk, the clattering of it almost completely drowned out by the passing of cars or people cheerfully going about their lives. Normally he didn't mind the noise much when he was running an errand, or rather, he was at least able to tolerate it. Now though, with the late hour and a feeling Yami wasn't quite ready to label as loneliness but had no other word for, it was grating.

Grocery bag swinging loosely by his side, Yami eyed an alley that he knew was probably dangerous after sundown, but would get him home the quickest. Most importantly it would be quieter.

Weighing the pros and cons, Yami decided to take a gamble and turned down the alleyway and continued his journey at a brisk pace. The gamble, unfortunately, was proven to contain too much risk as a loud voice from behind made Yami aware that he was far from alone.

"Hey, kid."

Yami stopped in his tracks and turned around to see a man in a green knitted hat and holding a knife. He'd been having a cigarette just up the street that Yami had been walking along and must have seen him turn down the alleyway. Why hadn't Yami considered him as a threat?

"Bye, man," Yami turned back around only to see his way blocked by another knife wielding man just ahead of him. Clearly they'd planned this out. "Ugh, I don't have time for this."

"I don't think you understand how this works," the second man, henceforth to be called Hatless, said. "You're going to set down the bag, hold your hands up, and then hand us your wallet."

"Don't you think it'll be a bit difficult for me to hand over my wallet if I'm holding my hands up?" Yami asked, lowering the bag and wondering why these punks were wasting their energies on a high school kid just come from the grocery store. Must be a slow night.

"Shut up," Green Hat said, coming dangerously close. "Just do what my partner says and no sudden moves."

Yami took a sharp intake of breath and did what was asked of him, handing his Tetris themed wallet over to Hatless.

"That's it?" Hatless asked angrily as he held up the contents of the wallet. "Just a few hundred yen?"

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Yami said evenly. It wouldn't do for them to know he was afraid. "Next time I'll be sure to have more on hand in case I'm accosted by you again in the future."

"You little shit!"

Yami stumbled into the wall, the blow Hatless delivered burning across his cheek. This was not good. Definitely not good.

He looked up to see a bright flash of silver and screwed his eyes shut in anticipation of the fatal jab from the assailant's knife. The attack he was expecting , however, never came. When he finally looked around, he was alone. Touching his hand to the side of his face where he knew he'd been punched, Yami let out a ragged breath and leaned against the wall.

He looked down at his puzzle and held hit up for inspection. At least it hadn't been stolen or damaged when those men mugged him. Or, he thought as he noticed his wallet on the ground next to one of the knives that had been wielded against him, when they _tried_ to mug him.

He picked it up and counted the notes inside and realized that nothing had been taken. All his cash was there, a little more crinkled than before, but all accounted for.

Looking around, he even noted that there were more items that hadn't been there before, like a money clip that still had cash in it and some women's jewelry. They were scattered as if they'd been violently thrown away. Even the hat that Green Hat had worn lay a few feet from the entrance of the alley, marred by a large, muddy footprint.

What the hell happened?

Not wanting to stay there any longer, Yami picked up his bag of groceries and made it home in record time.

He didn't get much sleep that night.

-Line-

Jounouchi kicked a discarded can of coke and watched it bounce and skitter to a stop a few feet away. Normally he could tolerate when his dad got into one of his moods but tonight he was really pissing Jounouchi off. It was one thing for him to shit-talk Jounouchi to his face, but it was another thing to do so while absolutely shit-faced as if he were so high and mighty. What gave him the right to judge Jounouchi when his sorry ass was so deep in gambling debt that—

Jounouchi took a deep breath. There was no use in going down that rabbit hole tonight.

In retrospect, Jounouchi should have noticed the warning signs. This was a few days coming, so he should have been more prepared for this.

He kicked the can again full force, smiling as he made it fly farther than he had before. The cool night air was helping to soothe his frayed nerves, but his chest still felt like it was wound up too tight. He was like a guitar string with too much tension, threatening to snap at any little agitation that came his way. He had to blow off some steam and fast or he might just go insane.

It made him wish that he and Honda were hanging out right then instead of having to wait until the following day. He would know how to stop Jounouchi from wanting to claw at his own skin. Usually it was through videogames or some kind of mischief. Honda was good at mischief. It was the foundation that their friendship was built on.

Jounouchi's thoughts strayed from friendship to Yami and his frustration only grew. After what happened at Burger World Yami had done a very good job showing that whatever friendship they may have had was effectively over. Jounouchi hadn't realized how much he'd come to enjoy Yami's company until it was ripped away from him. With Yami's begrudging acceptance of Jounouchi's presence, Jounouchi was given the opportunity to see past Yami's indifference and glimpse the humour underneath. He missed that dry wit.

What was just as bad was that Yuugi had apparently banished himself into the puzzle, never to be seen again. Jounouchi had hoped that after some time Yuugi would snap back to his carefree self and they could go on with their easy camaraderie. He wanted to get excited about stupid things again and have someone not only tolerate it, but share in it. Hell, Jounouchi never knew he could miss losing so much. He'd give just about anything to play another game with Yuugi.

He stomped on the can, and then growled when the bent metal clung to his sneaker. He ripped the deformed can off his foot and whipped it as far as it would go, not looking or caring where it landed. That is, until a shout alerted Jounouchi to the can's final destination.

"What the shit, man!" The guy Jounouchi accidentally hit in the head advanced on him, his equally pissed off friends in tow. "You looking to start something, you little bitch?"

Jounouchi's hands balled into fists and a smirk bloomed on his face as he readied for a fight.

It looked like he'd get to blow off some steam after all.

-Line-

"Yami! What happened?" Anzu exclaimed at school as she gently touched the bruise on Yami's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yea, I'm fine," Yami pulled back from her. "Just ran into a couple troublemakers last night on my way home."

Anzu's eyes darkened. "Jounouchi and Honda?"

"No," Yami assured. He'd been resolutely avoiding Jounouchi since the incident at Burger World, while Jounouchi seemed to be respecting Yami's need for space just enough to annoy him at a distance. "Just a couple muggers."

"What!? You were mugged?"

"Technically no," Yami hedged. "They didn't get anything off of me."

"You fought them off?" Anzu's voice grew weirdly soft. "That's really brave of you."

"I guess," Yami shrugged. There was no way he'd tell her what really happened. She would only get concerned and try to have him sent off to the infirmary, and he really didn't want to go to the infirmary. "It's not like I had much choice in the matter."

"Wow…"

"Hey guys!" Miho chirped happily from the door and made her way over to Yami's desk. "Have you heard about—oh Yami! What happened to your face?"

"He fought off two muggers," Anzu said, her voice returning to normal after that softness from earlier.

"Oh dear, are you okay?" Miho asked. "You're not hurt too badly are you?"

"I'm fine," Yami nodded as he wished they would stop talking about this. "What was it you were saying?"

"I- Oh right!" Miho said, turning to Anzu and thankfully allowing the topic of conversation to change. "Did you two hear about Kokurano-kun from Class A?"

"The psychic?" Anzu asked. "I have! Can you believe we have someone like that here?"

"I can't," Yami said, earning the attention of both girls.

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked.

"Well, he might be psychic," Yami allowed, "but almost all of the people who claim to have psychic powers are frauds. Statistically, he's lying."

"Well, a lot of the girls are going to see him during break today," Miho shrugged, shifting her weight on shy feet. "I know it's probably silly, but was hoping we could go down and get our fortunes told."

"It would be cool to see his powers for ourselves," Anzu agreed.

"Excellent!" Miho clapped her hands. "Even if he does turn out to be a fraud, it'll still be fun."

Yami was on the fence about going until he saw Jounouchi walk into the room with a bandage over his cheek. Their eyes met and Jounouchi smiled weakly, gesturing to their matching injuries. Yami glared and turned back to Anzu.

"I'm in."

"Hooray!" Miho clapped her hands. "I'm so excited. Aren't you, Anzu?"

"Huh?" Anzu's attention snapped back to their conversation. She had been staring after Jounouchi with the oddest expression on her face. "Yea, for sure!"

-Line-

Anzu couldn't get it out of her head. That day in Burger World was the scariest of her life and there was a long, harrowing moment when she had been certain that she was going to die. She still woke up in a cold sweat when the event invaded her dreams.

What was just as scary (okay, maybe not "just as scary" because holy hell, she could not think of anything that was even half as scary as being held at gunpoint actually was) was that when Yami came back to Burger World without Jounouchi, he didn't seem to have any idea what had happened after the convict called on him. He'd tried to hide it of course, but Anzu wasn't fooled. Not when the mention of 'Yuugi' filled his eyes with confusion rather than recognition.

She'd let it go when it became clear that she wouldn't get anything out of him. There was no sense in pushing him when he clearly didn't know any more than she did.

Jounouchi, however, was another story. He'd been there. He'd seen what happened while she couldn't. He knew who (or what) Yuugi was.

The problem was, she couldn't just walk up and confront him. For one thing, it would mean actually talking to him, which was something she really didn't want to have to do. For another, now that Jounouchi and Yami were no longer on speaking terms, it meant that Anzu had fewer opportunities to track him down.

This psychic kid though, if he was in fact a true psychic like the rumours said, might be able to help. At the very least it would give her enough time to think about what she wanted to say when she confronted Jounouchi.

She watched as Jounouchi made his way to his desk, casting Yami an almost regretful look before ignoring him as resolutely as he was being ignored. He looked so pathetic, that Anzu almost felt sorry for the poor guy. Almost. Something was definitely going on and she'd get to the bottom of it.

"Good morning everyone! Take your seats."

After class.

-Line-

"Wow, there are so many people."

Yami looked around at the number of people, mostly girls, crowded around one of the desks in the back row of the classroom. Anzu was right.

"I guess everyone wants to get their fortunes told," he said as he followed Miho and Anzu further into the room. The rest of the students watched with eager eyes as Kokurano prophesized a long life for one of the girls in the grade above theirs.

 _Vague and not provable_ , Yami thought. This kid was definitely a fake.

The ground beneath the trembled and several students yelped in surprise. The earthquake didn't last long, but there was no missing it. When it stopped and everyone calmed down, Kokurano cleared his throat.

"Some of you might believe me to be a fake," he said to an enthralled audience, though his gaze met only Yami's. Apparently he'd caught on that Yami knew he was not buying what he was selling. "But I am no ordinary fortune teller. Others rely on lesser methods like palm reading, study of patterns, Chinese and western astrology, and such. These are falsehoods that are only effective because they rely on statistics. I blaze a different, truer path using my psychic ability."

Yami rolled his eyes. Charismatic or not, this guy was full of shit.

"But words cannot truly convey this truth," Kokurano said, an edge in his voice as steel sharp as his gaze. "I will show you proof."

He reached into his coat and pulled out a slip of paper before motioning Yami to come over. Yami, ignoring the stares, stepped forward and took the paper as Kokurano told the room that he had written a vision this morning and that Yami would read it aloud.

"Today an earthquake will come," Yami read, though the last couple words drowned out by several cheers and declarations of amazement. The bloviating fan base quieted as Kokurano waved a single hand and basked in the awestruck stares of his audience.

"Now," Kokurano said, lacing his fingers together and leaning forward. His stare switched from Yami to Anzu. "Who's next?"

"Yes," Miho said and took a nervous step forward. Kokurano tore his gaze away from Anzu to look askance at Miho. "I, um. I was wondering—"

"Yes, the man you have your heart set on will reveal his reciprocation," Kokurano said. "You just need to remain patient."

"Oh," Miho's disappointment painted her tone. "That's… thank you."

"You're very welcome," Kokurano said, having already gone back to Anzu.

"Well, I…" Anzu said, shifting her weight under the intensity of Kokurano's stare. "I guess I'll give it a try…"

"Please," Kokurano said with a smile and a wink as he took Anzu's hand and ran his fingers over her palm. "What a lovely hand."

"Oh, uh, thanks?" Anzu said, clearly uncomfortable as Kokurano kept rubbing. The guy presumptuousness filled Yami with a disgust that lingered even after Kokurano let go. The guy was a total creep and Anzu deserved better treatment than that.

"I see…" Kokurano said is a mystic tone. "I see… Hark! Soon a wonderful man will reveal himself to you. You will surrender your body and soul to him!"

"Right," Anzu said, taking her hand back, though her eyes were thoughtful. "That's… thank you for your prediction."

"And that's our cue to leave," Yami said as he grabbed the fabric of Anzu's sleeve. "Let's go."

"Do you have a problem, Yami?" Kokurano challenged. Apparently he reciprocated Yami's dislike. "Are my powers to great for you to comprehend?"

"I'm sure they would be if you had actual powers."

"What are you saying?" one of the girls who surrounded Kokurano shouted. "You doubt his powers? You saw him predict the earthquake. You yourself read the prophecy!"

"So?"

The girls gasped and whispered amongst themselves and Yami had to bite the inside of his cheek when he caught the word 'blasphemer'. It wouldn't do to start laughing.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Kokurano growled

"You heard me," Yami said, letting go of Anzu sleeve to cross his arms. "For all we know, you have a hundred predictions under your clothes and just chose the right one for the earthquake."

Kokurano let out a cry and he leapt to his feet. "I see… I see your future! Countless words from heaven will pour down on you! Calamity and destruction will be all you know!"

The room went silent except for Kokurano's huffing breaths. After a moment Yami burst into laughter. So much for the 'no laughing' plan.

"Right," Yami said as he uncrossed his arms and headed for the door. "Well, I'll be sure to keep an eye on heaven in that case. Calamity and Destruction, are you coming?"

"Right behind you," Anzu said, taking Miho's hand. "Come on, Calamity."

-Line-

"Are you worried about Kokurano's prediction?" Anzu asked Yami when they'd returned to their desks.

"Not at all," Yami shook his head. "The guy's a fraud."

"Of course," Anzu nodded, then doubt crossed her face. "But then, there is that rumour."

"Rumour?"

"Well, the thing that made him famous." Anzu looked around and continued when no one paid her any mind. "One of the student from Class A, well, their house burned down… three days after Kokurano predicted it."

"That's what happened?" Miho asked, aghast. "How horrible!"

"It is, but thankfully no one was hurt," Anzu assured and Miho sighed in relief. "Still, it's scary."

"Well, _I'm_ not scared," Yami said. "That story is definitely, uh, unsettling, but I'm still not convinced."

"You're really that confident?" Anzu asked.

"In Yami's defense, Kokurano didn't seem very genuine," Miho said, playing with the ends of her hair. "Maybe he got lucky with that other student's unluckiness?"

"You're right," Anzu shook her head with a smile. "Of course, you're right. I'm being silly."

"Well, maybe not silly," Miho giggled.

While the girls talked, Yami thought about Kokurano. There was no way that guy could be real. Coincidences were common and most of his predictions were all so vague and easy to apply to anyone. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what words from heaven meant.

The question didn't plague him for long as the day gave him many distractions, and he soon forgot about the stupid prediction. Before he knew it the final bell rang and the quickly classroom soon emptied.

He stayed behind to wait for Anzu. After his comments on window-shopping the previous week, Anzu had insisted on taking him out to 'prove him wrong'. Once she was done with whatever last minute class representative thing she had to attend to, they'd be on their way.

Naturally, Yami could barely contain his excitement and yawned.

It was then that he noticed a book under Miho's desk. This was odd in itself, given Miho's position on the library committee and her treatment of books in general. He picked it up and opened to the front page to see Miho's hastily scrawled name along with the notation that the book was due back that day.

Yami looked back at the clock and considered how much time it would take him to return the book. It wouldn't take long to get to the library and he was confident that he'd be back before Anzu was done with whatever she was doing. Even if she beat him back to the room, she'd understand.

Still, as he made his way to the library something niggled at the back of his mind, but for the life of him he couldn't figure out what that something was. Yes, it was odd for Miho to have not returned a book on time, but not impossible. Unlikely things happened all the time. Despite this, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off, like hearing a wrong note in a familiar tune.

It wasn't until he was finding the book's place on its shelf that the realization came to him, along with the thunder of falling books and boom of wood slamming wood.

 _Countless words!_

-Line-

"Jounouchi!"

 _Great,_ Jounouchi thought as he finished tying the fraying laces of his sneakers and stood up. "You know, I'm getting pretty tired of people sneaking up on me to get my attention."

"I wasn't sneaking up on you!" Anzu crossed her arms. "I just want to talk."

"About what?" Jounouchi asked, mirroring her stance. "I didn't think we were going to have much more contact after your boyfriend ended our friendship."

Anzu balled the fabric of her coat in her fists and glowered. "I told you, he's not my boyfriend."

"Right, are we done here?" Jounouchi let his arms fall and started walking toward the doors. "No offence, but I can think of about a million things that I'd rather be doing than hanging out after school with you."

"What happened at Burger World?"

Jounouchi stopped in his tracks. In retrospect he really should have seen that question coming, but in retro-retrospect he couldn't see why she would suspect him of knowing anything about what happened. As far as he was aware, she thought he didn't know anything about anything.

"You were there," he said without turning around to face her. "You saw that criminal set himself on fire."

" _I_ saw nothing," she said, and Jounouchi heard her take a step forward. "I was blindfolded, remember? But you did. You saw something, and what's more, you know what that something was." Another step. "What I want to know is what that was."

"Why does it matter?" Jounouchi asked, a pang making itself known in his chest. "It's not like it would change anything."

"Wouldn't it though?"

There was a clattering above them, prompting Jounouchi to wheel around and look to the ceiling. It was loud, like several heavy things falling in succession. When it stopped, Jounouchi's gaze fell until it met Anzu's.

For a while neither of them said anything. Finally Anzu spoke.

"What was that?"

"No idea," Jounouchi answered honestly. "But it sounded like it was coming from the library."

"We should go check it out. Someone might need help." Anzu said before turning around and running to the stairs. She only made it a few steps before stopping and looking over her shoulder. "Are you coming?"

That was the question. A couple months ago, he might not have cared. In fact, he might have run off to avoid being considered a suspect in whatever it was that happened. Now though, after trying his hand at caring about other people, he found it harder to ignore the part of himself that told him that someone might be hurt. If that was the case, he couldn't very well let Anzu run off by herself.

"Yea," he said, joining her in running to the source of the sound. "I'm coming."

They ran until they reached the disaster that was the library. Books lay strewn about on the ground while the shelves they'd been housed on were piled like fallen dominoes. This was beyond vandalism.

"What the…" he took a step deeper into the room as Anzu ran forward and started looking under shelves. "Who would do something like this?"

"Oh my god!"

"What is it?" Jounouchi asked as he made his way over to where Anzu had stopped by one of the farther bookshelves. She was knelt down and tugging at something blue that was stuck between a set of shelves. A school jacket, he realized as he drew nearer, but it was only when he saw the out-of-uniform buckles on the sleeves that he understood the jacket's significance.

"Yami!" he gasped as he lifted the shelving unit pinning the jacket. "Is he under there?"

Anzu pressed herself low to the floor, the freed jacket clutched in her hand, and looked under the increasing heavy shelf. After a second, she pushed herself back on her knees and shook her head.

"He's not there."

Jounouchi sighed with relief as he dropped the heavy shelves. "Ah, thank goodness."

"But he was here," Anzu said, holding up the jacket. "How else could this have gotten here? And why would he leave it?"

Jounouchi nodded and looked around, anticipation in his gut. Yami had been in trouble that much had been obvious, but what had happened next? Had he gone after whoever did this? Had Yuugi?

"Where would he go?"

"He and I were supposed to meet after class to go window shopping," Anzu said, her eyes widening with realization. "We were supposed to meet back in our classroom."

"I'd say that's a good place to start," Jounouchi held a hand out to Anzu, only for her to look at it like he'd just offered her a rotten fish. He rolled his eyes. "Don't act so surprised. I told you, I turned over a new leaf. No need to make a big deal about it."

Anzu didn't accept his help to stand, but she didn't say anything caustic either. Instead she nodded back toward the door. "We should go find Yami and make sure he's okay."

"Ladies first," Jounouchi gestured toward the door and the two of them rushed toward their classroom. They arrived in time to see a body collapse on the floor.

-Line-

"Yami!" Anzu ran forward and began checking him over. There was a bruise forming on his left arm, probably from getting his jacket caught in the bookshelves, but apart from that and a little disorientation, he seemed okay.

"How is he?" Jounouchi asked, kneeling next to them. Once again, Anzu found herself bewildered. Like he had been in the library, Jounouchi seemed genuinely concerned about Yami.

"He'd be better if he knew why you were here," Yami murmured, and the actual hurt Anzu saw in Jounouchi's eyes made that image of a useless bully she'd held onto seem like a relic from another time.

"He just wants to make sure you're okay," Anzu found herself saying before she could stop herself. Jounouchi looked just as surprised as she felt, though he recovered more quickly and gave her a thankful smile. She returned it briefly before she noticed the prone form of Kokurano over by one of the desks, surrounded by paper and broken glass.

"Go check on him."

Jounouchi nodded and went to do as she asked while she turned her attention back to Yami, who stared at her like she'd lost her mind. Anzu couldn't say she blamed him.

"I'll explain later," Anzu assured him in hushed tones. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Yami said, sitting upright and tracing the bruise with his fingers. "Just a little banged up."

"I wonder what caused you to pass out like that," Anzu mused.

"Chloroform!" Jounouchi yelped, causing both Anzu and Yami to jump. Jounouchi held up the remains of a broken bottle and covered his own mouth with his sleeve. "It looks like it got both of them."

"Why on earth would there be a broken bottle of chloroform in here?" Anzu asked.

"Well," Yami said, casting a nervous glance at Anzu, "Kokoruano tried to make my 'countless words fortune' come true by trying to kill me with half the library. Given that he came back here, I'd say he was trying to make another prediction come true."

"What do you mean?" Anzu asked, her stomach turning as her instincts realized something her mind hadn't caught onto yet.

Yami took a breath, avoiding her gaze by glaring at Kokurano. Then it hit her. She and Yami were supposed to meet here. She would have been alone. Kokurano brought chloroform to a room where she would have been waiting alone.

 _You will surrender your body and soul…_

"That CREEP!" Anzu shrieked and kicked Kokurano hard before she even realized she'd gotten up and raced over. Korkurano grunted, his eyelids fluttering before he fell back into unconsciousness.

"Anzu!" Yami shouted and Anzu rounded on him.

"He deserves worse than that!"

"You're not wrong," Yami said as he got to his feet. "But you might want to be careful of his coat."

"His coat?" Anzu looked down and saw that Kokurano had pinned hundred of papers to the inside of his coat.

"Looks like this guy is more psyche than psychic," Jounouchi said, tapping Kokurano's shoulder with his foot. "No wonder all his predictions came true."

"Given what he did tonight, it makes me wonder what else he's done," Yami said, coming over and looking down at all the 'predictions'. "We should probably call the police."

"I'm with you there," Anzu said, silently cursing the fact that she hadn't saved up enough for a cell phone yet. "Let's go find a phone."

"There's one near the front entrance," Jounouchi said. "We could—"

"Thanks, but this isn't a three person job," Yami said with a harsh glare. "I appreciate your concern, but you can go now."

"But—"

"Jounouchi, we're not friends," Yami snapped. Hurt crossed Jounouchi's face and Anzu found herself feeling genuinely sorry for the poor guy. "Please respect that."

Yami took Anzu's hand and lead her out of the room.

-Line-

"About time you got here," Honda said, welcoming Jounouchi into his house. "I finished my chores forever ago and I thought you might—you okay, man?"

"Huh?" Jounouchi asked, toeing off his shoes. "Oh, yea. I'm fine. Just ready to school you on your own system. Is the console set up?"

Honda snorted. "Yea, like you could school me in anything."

The two settled down on Honda's living room floor and started playing. About fifteen minutes in, Honda paused the game in the middle of a round.

"Hey," Jounouchi protested. "What gives? I was winning?"

"The fact that you said 'I'm winning' like it's a question tells me you're not paying enough attention to know for sure," Honda said, settling his controller down and turning to face Jounouchi more head-on. "And you've been staring at the wrong part of the screen for the past fifteen minutes."

"Oh," Jounouchi said, setting his controller down and mirroring Honda's position. "Sorry, man."

"Seriously, are you okay? You're not still upset about our talk the other day, are you?"

"No, it's not that it's just… I ran into Yami today."

"What did he do?" Honda said in a hard tone.

"Nothing, just made it clear that we're not friends." When Honda responded with nothing but silence, Jounouchi scoffed. "Go ahead and say I told you so, I know you want to."

"I don't think I need to."

Jounouchi huffed. "Right."

"That's not what I meant," Honda hurried. "What I mean is I'm sorry. I told him to leave you alone if he was going to do something like this but I should have—"

"No, that's not it, it's," Jounouchi rubbed the back of his neck and his thought of a way to explain things. "We were getting along just fine until I upset him after that incident in Burger World."

"Doesn't seem like it would take a lot to upset him. Do you really want someone like that in your life?"

"You don't know him like I do," Jounouchi said. "I mean, yea, he can be a dick, but he's more than that. We were actually getting along near the end and I thought we'd made a breakthrough, but then things got messed up and I don't know how to make things right."

"You really care about that guy, don't you?"

Jonouchi nodded and Honda grew quiet. After a few moments, he finally huffed a long sigh that morphed into a groan. "I'm probably going to hate myself for this later, but you really should just go talk to him."

"You think so?" Jounouchi had not expected that.

"Look, you know I hate the guy, but it's clear you want him in your life and if you say you were getting along with him before, I believe you."

"You've sure changed your opinion fast."

"Dude, you've been my friend for how long now? I can tell when you're really upset. Yami's clearly become important to you and I have to admit that you have been happier since establishing that relationship or whatever." Honda paused a moment, then sighed.

"And I thought about our talk the other day and realized that I might have sorta been acting like a jealous girlfriend after all. It's just- I know it's stupid, but it kind of sort of felt like you were trying to replace me."

"You're right, that is stupid," Jounouchi said and rested a hand on Honda's shoulder. "No one could ever replace you, but I am sorry that I made you feel that way."

"Not your fault," Honda shrugged and Jounouchi took his hand back. "It was me getting in my own head. I'm still worried about you, but I'm sorry I was such a dick about it."

"I probably would have acted the same way if things were reversed," Jounouchi admitted.

"Thanks man."

"And I'm glad to see you finally admit that you were being a jealous girlfriend," Jounouchi teased. "I knew there was no way you were out of my league."

"Dude, shut up," Honda punched Jounouchi's arm. "We were having a nice moment."

"Ow," Jounouchi rubbed his arm before returning Honda's punch.

They quickly descended into a wrestling match, their fighting and laughter only stopping when their combined efforts knocked over a lamp.

" _Hiroto!"_

"Sorry, mom!"

-Line-

Word of Kokurano's fraud and arrest under suspicion of arson spread through the school like wildfire, which is probably not a good metaphor to use when referring to an arsonist. Needless to say, the number of people waxing poetic about how betrayed they personally felt by Kokurano was getting on Yami's nerves. People seemed to care more about their own personal slights than the fact that this kid was an arsonist and attempted murderer.

Still, Yami thought as his fingers trailed over the part of his sleeve that covered his bruise from the night before, at least he wasn't being harassed about it. For all the drama he'd helped cause in outing the fraud, people seemed content to ignore him as they always had. At least people were consistent. Consistency was good.

"Hey Yami," Honda said as he took a seat at the desk ahead of Yami without turning the chair. "We need to talk."

"Again?" Yami said, not bother to contain his irritation. "Wasn't our last chat productive enough?"

Honda took a deep breath and muttered something to himself under his breath. When he'd finished he seemed calmer, even if Yami knew it was forced. "I'm sorry for the way I acted in the past."

"Oh," Yami blinked away his surprise even as suspicion grew. "Uh, thanks, I guess?"

"Don't mention it," Honda rushed to say. "Really, don't. I don't need other people thinking we're friends or something."

"Then why approach me at all? Even if you're saying sorry, it's still very clear you don't like me and believe me, the feeling is mutual."

"I'm here for Jounouchi."

"And suspicions confirmed," Yami leaned back ad crossed his arms. "If that's what you want to talk about, you can go. I'm not interested."

"And why not?"

"I'm so sick of talking about me and Jounouchi. It's getting old and I'd much rather we just move on from this and I go back to enjoying my peace and quiet."

"Trust me, I'm with you there," Honda said, once again surprising Yami, "I'd like nothing more than to wash my hands and be done with this, but unfortunately for us, we're not the only ones involved. Now, I don't know what Jounouchi did, but I do know that whatever it was he feels terrible about it. I'm not telling you that you have to forgive him, but you really should give him a chance to make things right."

"You have one thing right," Yuugi uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. "You don't know what Jounouchi did, so you'd do well to stay out of our business."

"Fine," Honda said as he stood up. "But keep in mind that Jounouchi was trying to be your friend for a reason. He could have given up on you at any time, but he didn't. Maybe you should think about why."

With that he left the room, leaving Yami to wonder both why Honda's words made him feel so regretful and where the hell he was going. Class would be starting soon.

-Line-

Yami was still thinking about what Honda said during the lunch hour. They were sat outside the school in the grass, Yami half listening while Anzu was busy filling Miho in on exactly what happened the previous night.

"That no good creep!" Miho said when Anzu had finished her retelling. "You should have kicked him harder and more times!"

"My biggest regret of the night," Anzu agreed.

"I'm so sorry, Anzu-chan. It was my idea to go see him in the first place. If I had known he would do such a horrible thing, I would never have suggested—"

"It's not your fault," Anzu said, resting a hand on Miho's shoulder to calm her down. "We're in the same school. Our paths would have crossed eventually."

"Even so…"

"The important thing is that nothing happened and I'm fine! Yami gave him a taste of his own medicine."

"And I'm forever grateful for that," Miho said, turning to face Yami, catching Anzu's hand in hers when Anzu pulled back. "Thank you so much for keeping our Anzu safe."

"Uh," Yami said, drawing a blank on what he should say in response. "You're welcome?"

Nailed it.

"Are you okay?" Anzu asked, leading Yami to believe that he had not, in fact, nailed it.

"Yea, just… can I ask you something in private?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Anzu blushed and turned to Miho. "Do you mind if we step away? We'll be right back."

"Sure," Miho nodded and let go of Anzu's hand. "Hurry back!"

"We will," Yami said and led Anzu a little ways away so that they were out of earshot the rest of the student population.

"What did you want to ask me?" Anzu asked, fiddling with the edge of her sleeves.

"Well, I… what were you doing with Jounouchi yesterday?"

"Oh," Anzu said, her fingers going still on her sleeves. "Um, it seems kind of silly, but I wanted to ask him about Burger World."

"Burger World?"

"Yea, I wanted to know if he saw anything we didn't. It's just that that was probably the worst and most what-the-hell thing that's ever happened to me in my life, and I was hoping he might be able to help me understand it more."

"That doesn't sound silly at all," Yami assured. "Sorry I can't be of more help."

"No, I understand," Anzu nodded. "It was a pretty intense time for everyone."

"So, you approached Jounouchi, not the other way around?"

"Uh, yea. To be honest he didn't seem to want to have anything to do with me. Why?"

"I don't know, Honda came up to me today and said some stuff about making things right and talking with Jounouchi again."

"Ugh, what a busybody. He should really learn to stay out of other people's business. You want me to go kick his ass?"

Yami grinned. "No, that's fine. It's just… it got me thinking and I'm not entirely sure what to do."

"Do you want to starting talking to him again?"

"No, I mean, I don't know. I'm still pissed at him and he's still been super secretive about whatever it is he's doing. There's no way for me to know if this is just going to bite me in the ass again. I mean, if Honda's gotten himself involved, it can't mean anything good, right?"

Anzu bit her lip and crossed her arms.

"You think I should try the friend this again, don't you?"

"Not if you don't want to," Anzu hedged. "But I don't think Jounouchi is going to try anything to hurt you. At least not on purpose."

"You really think so?"

"Don't get me wrong. I still don't like the guy, but I think I may have been wrong about him. Whatever nonsense is going on in his head, I don't think it's malicious."

Yami smirked. "This is a far cry from the 'I don't trust you as far as I can throw you.'"

Anzu rolled her eyes with a smile and dropped her arms. "Turns out people can change."

Yami nodded, the words resonating somewhere deep within him. "I have to leave immediately."

"What, where are you going?" Anzu asked as Yami started walking away.

"To test a theory."

-Line-

"Dude, no."

"I'm telling you, it's real."

"I don't believe you."

"You can believe me or not, but it's still true regardless of what you say."

"Snails do not have teeth."

"Yes they do! Thousands of them apparently."

"Why the hell are we even talking about this?"

"It's important information!"

"To who!?"

"Excuse me."

Jounouchi and Honda stopped their disagreement at the sound of Yami's voice. Honda rolled his eyes and pushed himself off of the wall of the hallway they were in. Jounouchi, for his part, just stared. He had honestly not seen this coming.

"That's my cue to leave," Honda said as he stuffed his hands in his pocket. "Come find me when you're done."

"Sure thing, man," Jounouchi said, still not quite understanding what was going on. He understood even less when he heard Honda say 'you're welcome' under his breath as he walked by. When they were finally alone, Yami spoke up.

"We need to talk."

"Oh, uh, yea. Yea, let's talk."

For a while Yami stood there, looking everywhere but at Jounouchi. Sometimes he'd open his mouth like he was going to say something, only to close it and go back to avoiding eye contact.

"Okay, we're not going to get anywhere this way," Jounouchi said and gestured to the wall. "Wanna sit down?"

"Okay," Yami nodded and his shoulders lost some of their tension. When they were sitting side by side, both staring ahead rather than at each other, Yami spoke. "I think I owe you an apology."

"What? Why?"

"I may have overreacted at Burger World. It's just… a lot happened and it happened so fast and I was… I…"

"You were scared," Jounouchi finished.

"Yea," Yami said. "Yea, I was scared."

"It's okay," Jounouchi nodded. "I get it. If it helps, I'm sorry too. I could see you were scared but I was so wrapped up in my own thing that I didn't do much to help you. I think I made things worse."

"You did," Yami nodded, grimacing after the thought was out. "I mean, yea it made things worse, but they were already bad to begin with and that wasn't your fault. The apology does help though."

"Thanks," Jounouchi nodded.

Yami was quiet for a long moment. "I don't know how to do this."

"Do what?" Jounouchi asked, turning so that he was watching Yami's profile.

"I don't do friends," Yami shrugged, an awkward movement with his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs. His gaze was firmly fixed ahead, but he seemed to know Jounouchi was watching him. "This is all new to me."

"What about Mazaki and Nosaka?"

"Anzu's been my friend since we were kids. Well, mostly. We drifted apart for a while, and I'm pretty sure she only started being my friend again after you and Honda started harassing me. And Miho… she's more Anzu's friend than mine. I'm not exactly the most sociable guy."

"Yea, I may have picked up on that," Jounouchi said, grinning when Yami quirked a smile.

"Could've fooled me," Yami said and they fell into silence again. "I don't understand why you're trying so hard."

"Do you really find it that difficult to believe someone wants to be your friend?"

Yami took a deep breath but didn't say anything more. Oh.

"I'm sorry," Jounouchi said, shocking Yami enough for him to make eye contact.

"For what?"

"Just… just sorry."

"Thanks," Yami grinned and went back to staring ahead. "I'm sorry too."

"Thanks," Jounouchi said, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. "So I guess we're friends again?"

"Yea, I guess we are." Yami huffed a laugh. "It took us long enough, huh?"

"Yea, but that's what friends are supposed to do, right?" Jounouchi said, clapping a hand on Yami's shoulder. "Wait for each other?"

Yami gave him an odd look before smiling his agreement.

"Yea."

-Line-

"So you and Yami are friends again, huh?" Honda said when Jounouchi finally found him back in their classroom. Jounouchi, meanwhile, had a grin so big and dopey looking that it reminded Honda of when his dog was a puppy.

"You bet we are," Jounouchi said as he hopped up tosit on one of the neighbouring desks. "I don't know what you did, but you got him to talk to me. Thanks, man."

"No problem. I was just tired of seeing your mopey ass mope around."

"I'm just glad the talking part is over. That shit was annoying."

"It usually is," Honda agreed. He couldn't think of anything worse than having to actually talk about feelings.

"Speaking of," Jounouchi said, swinging his legs out, "now that he and I are friends, I'm going to have to ask you to make an effort not to be a dick to him."

"Uggghhhhh," Honda groaned, cursing the universe for proving him wrong. This was worse. "Fine. But only as long as he's not a dick to me in return."

"He already agreed to the not being a dick thing," Jounouchi waved a hand. "And he knows that if he steps out of line you'll give back three times as much as what he puts out there."

"Good. He should know not to mess with me."

" _Honda_."

"Don't worry, I'll be nice," Honda said as he crossed his arms.

"It's all I ask," Jounouchi grinned and held out a fist. "Thanks for having my back. I'm glad to have you as my best friend."

Honda grinned and bumped Jounouchi's fist with his own. "Me too."

Jounouchi cleared his throat and the two descended into a slightly uncomfortable silence.

"Snails really do have teeth you know."

"Shut the fuck up!"


End file.
